I sometimes say "If I get 50 eurocent per person saying 'look that gorilla is pregnant' I'd be very wealthy after spending a day in the zoo". Of course that's when it's a weekend or Holiday day. When people say that, they often also point at young males (between 4 and 7 years old).
What most people don't know: gorillas always have big bellies. It's typical for them. Okay, young gorillas who still drink a lot of milk don't have these big bellies yet. When they slowly start eating more and more food, their belly starts growing too.
If you see an adult gorilla without a big belly, he/she is most likely ill. There are exceptions of course. Both in GaiaZOO and in Zoo Krefeld there are slender gorillas. In GaiaZOO Loango and Mosi. With them it's a 'medical' cause: they're castrated. In Zoo Krefeld female Miliki is very slender.
Gorillas have big bellies because they eat plant-based food. That food needs more time to digest. That's why they have a complicated (and long!) digestive system. They have about 4 meter (!!) more intestines. And well, some gorilla have bigger belies than others; mostly it's because they love to eat and eat a lot.
How is it possible for gorilla keepers to see if a gorilla is pregnant? They can't see that. The only way to know if a gorilla is pregnant, is by doing a pregnancy test (the same used for human women). Most of the time they saw gorillas mate. They then write it down and a x number of weeks later they do a pregnancy test. It did happen that there were surprise babies. I know 2 of these surprise babies. The first one is Bobóto in Zoo Krefeld and the 2nd one is Ajabu in Diergaare Blijdorp. I love these kind of surprises.
