Bubbles rain down at Calgary Zoo for baby gorilla's 1st birthday

Colourful streamers and bubbles blew about at the Calgary Zoo for baby gorillaKimani's first birthday party.

The big shindig comes after a difficult year for the Western lowland troop,which lost its silverback of 23 years, Kakinga, and saw 19-year-oldZuri undergoemergency surgery for a severe abdominal infection.

• Calgary Zoo 'gentle giant' gorilla Kakinga dies
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Kakinga died shortly after Kimani was born, which took a toll on mother Kioja, said zookeeper Jennifer Long.

"The mothers really depend on the silverbacks for protection. When that disappeared, she was very nervous. Very unsure of herself."

Baby Kimanigot off to a rocky start after she was born. Zoo staff were forced to intervene with extra fluids and bottle feeding when they noticed she wasn't thriving.

Kimani is still being bottle fed today, but only as a supplement.

"It's really helped her gain a lot of weight, and she's thriving right now," Long said.

She's still quite small in size, but zoo staff say that's to be expectedbecause her mother is a small adult female.

In February, the zoo announced it had identified a young male to take the place of Kakinga with the all-female lowland gorilla troop.

But Long said it would be "premature" to provide any further details about that male,as he won't arrive for at least a year.