Keeper’s showdown with bureaucrats over baby gorilla Kauis

Baby gorilla Kauis has had the world watching his every move these last five months, though not all eyes on the primate have been convinced his carers have his best interests at heart. Check out the pics and video.

Baby gorilla Kauis has had the world watching his every move these last five months, though not all eyes on the primate have been convinced his carers have his best interests at heart.

That won’t dampen the spirits though of zoo keeper Chad Staples, who says Kauis is now walking, eating solids, giggling and interacting with his gorilla family.

“There were birthing issues with his mum, his father stealing him away when dads just need to watch, then a sepsis pneumonia that stopped his first attempt at reintroduction,” Mr Staples said.

“Kauis has had the roughest start to life but aside from all the medical issues, the struggles have since come in the form of outside influences and judgement coming from those who should be trying to support me,” Mr Staples told The Sunday Telegraph.

“A specialist unit within the Department of Primary Industries has behaved like the welfare of the infant is somehow in jeopardy and not the absolute priority.”

Chad Staples with Kauis, who is now five months old. Picture: Tim Hunter

In February, Mr Staples found himself the subject of an impromptu inspection after an anonymous complaint.

“Rather than the unit reaching out to help and be part of the Kaius’s reintroduction, they chose to treat me as someone without the best motives rather than the 26-year animal care specialist I am.”

Mr Staples says Kauis is now walking, eating solids, giggling and interacting with his gorilla family. Picture: Tim Hunter

Since the gorilla’s birth Mr Staples has put his life on hold, sharing his bedroom with the bub who has come a long way from being just 2.2kg and needing feeding through a tube.

Now weighing 5.8kg he is fully aware of his surroundings and growing more and more curious about his primate family.

“He is mobile and aware, he has different moods, he’s playful, inquisitive at times, he’s very active and has great hand-eye coordination,” Mr Staples said.

“He reaches out to grab the things he sees. He has so much life and personality in his face, it’s amazing to see all his different facial expressions and he laughs. He’s ticklish, so that makes him laugh.”

Mr Staples says complaints about his care of the baby gorilla were tough. Picture: Tim Hunter.

After all the love, time and care Mr Staples has put into Kauis, complaints about his care of the baby gorilla were a tough pill to swallow.

On February 22, after the visit from inspectors, Mr Staples wrote to the department, saying: “I find it completely unbelievable that an alleged anonymous complaint of something seen on social media (not even my account) has led to this response”.

“I have been in this industry for over 26 years, I am the authority holder for three institutes within NSW and the behaviour shown to me was a blatant act of intimidation in the beginning sending three officers announced.

Kaius is very active and ticklish.

And has a lively personality.

“That quickly escalated to harassment with repeated requests for further information that had nothing to do with the complaint and then finally leading to a member of their team to blatantly breach the regulations of the very standards they are supposed to uphold.”

Mr Staples claims the inspection stemmed from him sending an email on December 23 last year calling the department out for “a complete lack of actual concern for the health and wellbeing of the baby gorilla and their complete lack of assistance to the institute charged with its care”.

“If the unit within the department truly cared about the baby gorilla, which by the way is an individual of a critically endangered species, it would have been them who reached out to me in the beginning, not the other way round.

“I would have been asked if there was anything that the department could offer as assistance, not treated as if I was knowingly and willingly causing harm to the infant in my care.”

Kauis is reaching all his developement goals. Picture: Tim Hunter.

On March 22 a spokesman for the Department of Primary Industries told The Sunday Telegraph the investigation into the complaint had been finalised and “DPI continues to work with the exhibitor to ensure the long-term management of the infant gorilla and optimal animal welfare outcomes are achieved”.

For Mr Staples, the focus remains firmly on Kauis and how his future will look with his mum, dad and aunty.

“Kaius now just over five months old and reaching all his developmental goals.

“He can stand, walk, climb and he’s even starting to eat some solids with the seven teeth.

“In the beginning he was cared for just like a human baby, the first six weeks he literally ate every two hours around the clock, whereas now at least there is a nice long night sleep.”

Kaius now has his own bedroom down in the gorilla house where he spends all his time from sunrise to sundown.

“He is carried around to mimic what his own mum would naturally do which builds up his strength for the next big step in his development.

“Once Kaius reaches around the eight month mark he will be introduced to his new surrogate who will hopefully take on the role of his protector.

“Kaius will still need to be bottle fed until his solid food intake is high enough. He spends his day hearing gorilla noises, smelling their smells and learning their behaviours so he can make his transition to the group easier.”

It’s Kauis’s aunty G-Anne who is shaping up as the likely surrogate mum when the time is right for integration.

“When that will depend very much on the rest of the family. Usually it’s about at the eight month mark but the parents are both a first-time mum and dad. So we have to be patient and let them tell us when they are ready,” he said.

“I have appreciated hearing from people across the world about how thankful they are for what has been done to save Kauis.”

Originally published as Keeper’s showdown with bureaucrats over baby gorilla Kauis