Zoo Knoxville's newest baby gorilla is a girl and is named for a Knoxville woman who loved the endangered animals and supported the park's work to save them from extinction.
The baby, born Sept. 10 to mother Kowali, 38, and silverback male Bantu, 18, is named Andi. Zoo officials say the name means "brave, strong, valiant and courageous."
The gorilla is named for Andie Ray, a community leader who was 48 when she died unexpectedly in December 2015 after a short illness. The animal lover who was also known for the hats she liked to wear had also owned the former Vagabondia dress shop on Market Square.
Ray also loved gorillas and was instrumental, say zoo officials, in connecting her family to Zoo Knoxville's efforts to care for the species. Last year the Ray family named the first gorilla born at the zoo. They gave that female animal the name Obi, which means "heart," after winning the privilege at the park's annual Zoofari auction.
"Andie was someone who cared deeply about her community and embodied the philosophy that one person can create positive change. Just as Andie made a difference in Knoxville, this gorilla is important to the survival of this critically endangered species," said Lisa New, the zoo's president and CEO.
Andi is the third endangered lowland gorilla born at the zoo since May 2015. Gorilla Hope is mother to Obi, now 16 months. Gorilla Machi is mother to the male Ubuntu; he's a few days younger than his half-sister Obi. Andi is Obi and Ubuntu's half sister; Bantu is the father to all three youngsters.
All three babies will grow up in Knoxville. When they're older, they may move to other zoos on breeding recommendations from the American Zoological Association's Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan.
Obi and Ubuntu were the first Western lowland gorillas born at Zoo Knoxville, and their births helped the park set an annual attendance record. They are also the first gorillas born in a Tennessee zoo in 30 years; the Memphis Zoo was the home to the earlier births.
The adult and youngster gorillas live together as a group in the park's natural habitat Gorilla Valley. Andi is Kowali's sixth and probably last baby. Her other five infants were born at Lincoln Park Zoo where she lived before coming to Knoxville in 2013 through the gorilla SSP. Zoo Knoxville housed bachelor male apes for 20 years before being approved for a breeding group by the AZA plan.
