{"id":103859,"date":"2026-07-15T21:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/103859\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T21:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:31:10","slug":"gorilla-cub-at-basel-zoo-killed-by-its-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/103859\/","title":{"rendered":"Gorilla Cub at Basel Zoo Killed by Its Father"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wildlife<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Yeba, a silverback gorilla, joined the gorilla group at the Basel Zoo in November 2025. Since Tuesday, he has been linked to two deaths in the group. (File photo)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c9dddccc-5288-4a65-bf00-96050c20d4cb.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-dark-gray text-small mt-2\">Yeba, a silverback gorilla, joined the gorilla group at the Basel Zoo in November 2025. Since Tuesday, he has been linked to two deaths in the group. (File photo)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-gray text-smaller mt-1 [.ticker-entry_&amp;]:border-b [.ticker-entry_&amp;]:border-aluminum [.ticker-entry_&amp;]:pb-1\">Keystone<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-stacked-spacing a-paragraph a-paragraph--lead text-h4 leading-26 md:leading-28 text-navy p-4 pb-8 md:px-0 md:pt-8\" data-t-name=\"Paragraph\">The four-day-old baby of the female gorilla Joas died on Tuesday at the Basel Zoo. The 14-year-old silverback Yeba fatally injured it, the zoo announced on Wednesday. This is the second death in the gorilla group within a few days.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Keystone-SDA\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-full w-full rounded-full object-cover\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/bluewin-prod-sc-images.imgix.net\/2026\/04\/07\/8f8bf2bc-2db8-4d30-a567-72697f869653.heif?w=96&amp;auto=format&amp;s=07db0ac73ee5d1f68cd7a05910f2bdf5\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"author-names text-navy text-small\">Keystone-SDA<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"mr-1 h-3 w-3\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.bluewin.ch\/_next\/static\/media\/021-clock.24ldz2iukf4_m.svg?w=32\"\/>Today at 16:19<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">During the first few days, the baby gorilla\u2019s mother, Joas (37), reportedly displayed typical maternal behavior. On Tuesday afternoon, Yeba showed interest in the newborn gorilla and took the young female into her arms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">However, Yeba no longer allowed Joas to get near the cub, which led to scuffles between the two adult animals, the report continues. During one such scuffle, the cub was killed by an accidental bite to the chest inflicted by Yeba.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">Joas continues to carry the dead infant on his back, according to the zoo. This behavior is common among gorillas, and the zoo does not interfere with it. The incident highlights the high complexity of social structures and relationships within gorilla groups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">According to the press release, this was the fifth offspring for the mother, Joas, and the first for the father, Yeba.<\/p>\n<p>Mobali was euthanized on Tuesday<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">Just last Tuesday, the Basel Zoo announced that Mobali, an 11-year-old male, had to be euthanized. The reason was bite wounds to his genital area, which Yeba had also inflicted on him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">The killing of young gorillas\u2014known as infanticide\u2014is a behavior that has been observed and scientifically documented in gorillas, the zoo adds. It is known to occur primarily among gorillas living in harem structures. The causes could be varied.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">According to the statement, the zoo is monitoring the dynamics within the group and consulting with experts. Particular attention is being paid to future developments, especially in light of the expected birth of another cub.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph text-standard wrap-break-word text-dark-gray font-thesans w-full\">According to the zoo, the group now consists of the silverback Yeba and the females Joas, Makala, and Qaziba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wildlife Yeba, a silverback gorilla, joined the gorilla group at the Basel Zoo in November 2025. Since Tuesday,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8],"tags":[77,51133],"class_list":["post-103859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basel","tag-basel","tag-tierwelt"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116926132271841641","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}