26 April, 2016
This is What's Trending Today
Shinda is a 24-year-old gorilla that lives at the Prague Zoo, in the Czech Republic. She is a bit overweight. The gorilla had never given birth.
Several times she became pregnant, but the pregnancies ended early, without a baby. Zookeepers did not expect her to ever be able to give birth. In fact, nobody noticed that she, once again, was pregnant.
But on April 23, Shinda delivered a healthy baby gorilla. It shocked everyone at the zoo. The director of the Prague Zoo told the media, "I can't even imagine what could surprise me more. Not only did we not know about Shinda's pregnancy, but, to begin with, over time we've lost hope she could have a baby anymore."
People on social media reacted to the unexpected birth, too. The term "Prague Zoo" has been trending on Facebook and Twitter. Photos and video of the mother and baby gorilla have gone viral. One video of Shinda holding her new baby has more than 2 million views.
But, others reacted with concern that zookeepers did not even know Shinda was pregnant. One social media user asked how "this could...be called care if they didn't even know she was pregnant. Add the fact [that] she went on display within 24 hours."
And that's What's Trending Today.
I'm Ashley Thompson.
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Words in This Story
trend - v. to be the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time.
viral - adj. relating to an image or video that is spread quickly and widely on the Internet.
amazing - adj. causing great surprise or wonder
on display - n. put somewhere for people to see