I am sure that I have seen pictures of the moms breastfeeding around the
gorilla cage at the zoo, so I decided to try to track down the story. A fellow
La Leche League Leader thought that Nancy Mohrbacher had been personally
involved, so I contact her. Here is her reply:
Hi Kathy,
The gorilla story is featured in my new book, Breastfeeding Made Simple:
Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers, which I co-authored with Kathy
Kendall-Tackett, and it comes from an old La Leche League News article. The zoo was in
Ohio and I was not personally involved, although I often retold this story
to the mothers I helped and I sometimes tell it in my talks to lactation
consultants.
Mothers I worked with often said that they felt "stupid," because they were
having trouble doing something as "natural" as breastfeeding. The story is a
great way to get the point across that breastfeeding is a learned
behavior--and not just among human beings, but among higher primates as well. This
story made many mothers feel better about their struggles.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to share this with Lactnet.
Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC
I then tried a Google search and found a transcript of an interview with
wildlife expert and director emeritus of the Columbus, Ohio Zoo, Jack Hanna from
the 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' show for Feb. 21.
OLBERMANN: Well, it certainly would have been a novel explanation for that
whole Janet Jackson business a year ago. But seriously, is this even
possible?
We turn now to wildlife expert, director of the emeritus of the Columbus,
Ohio Zoo, and 30-year veteran of gorilla study, Jack Hanna.
Jack, good evening. Thanks for your time.
JACK HANNA, WILD LIFE EXPERT: Thank you.
OLBERMANN: Is there some explanation here that does not involve somebody at
this gorilla foundation having gone nuts?
HANNA: I can‘t understand—I don‘t know what happened out there, but
gorillas are very social animals. Back in 1982, Columbus, Ohio, by the way, had
the first gorilla ever born in the world in 1956. We have four generations of
gorillas, the only twin gorillas, so, we know gorillas. And after I visited
Rwanda and Uganda, I‘ve studied these animals in the wild as well. They‘re
very, very intelligent. In 1982, in the early years, zoos took the babies
away from the mothers right away, because they were so valuable. But now we
know how to breed, and they must—they must learn from the mothers.
So, in ‘82, La Leche League, which are women that breast feed. We had about
15 women that volunteered breast feed in front of the gorillas. We shut our
doors. It was a serious thing, because any gorillas that were pregnant or
becoming pregnant could watch women breast feed, and that‘s how our gorillas
started learning about how to take care of their young.
Now we leave every gorilla with the mother, unless, it‘s absolutely
necessary to take a gorilla, because they have to stay there to learn. Now what—
Penny, has done a great job out there with her gorillas in California. I don‘t
know what these women were asked to do or anything else. The gorillas are
very, very rare, very endangered. And it‘s a serious thing when we breed a
gorilla, and a very world renowned thing when Columbus or any zoological park
breeds the gorillas.
_http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7011497/_ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7011497/)
Kathy
Kathleen Fallon Pasakarnis, M.Ed. IBCLC
Nurturing Family Lactation and Parenting Services
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