The baby gorilla turned out to be something that grown gorillas aren't, which is cute.

"Awwww," said just about everybody, when the small and wrinkly western lowland gorilla made his first public appearance on a special video monitor installed alongside the gorilla house.

The gorilla, born Dec. 8, has been a nonstop challenge to his keepers, largely because his mother, Monifa, decided motherhood was a big nuisance and abandoned the infant shortly after giving birth.

Zookeepers began raising the gorilla themselves, while keeping the baby only a few feet away from the rest of the gorilla troop on the other side of the fence inside the gorilla house.

To that end, a comfy double bed has been installed and keepers take turns cuddling the 11-pound baby gorilla through the night, feeding him human baby formula from a bottle and occasionally changing a diaper.

A 2-month-old gorilla goes through only two diapers a day, keepers say. A baby human can go through half a package.

The gorilla also likes to play with human baby toys such as rattles and rings. He does not seem to mind having been dumped by mom, although keepers concede that they have no real way of knowing.

And he enjoys having his tummy rubbed by keeper and surrogate gorilla mom Rachel Simpson, who draws full salary for sleeping through the night with a baby gorilla on her chest.

"He's incredibly calm," Simpson said. "Nothing seems to bother him."

For now, zoo visitors must content themselves with viewing the baby on the video monitor. The other four gorillas have the run of their indoor and outdoor quarters, and they often choose to spend time in cages directly alongside the baby, especially at meal time.

Monifa seems mildly interested, but not enough to take the plunge back into motherhood.

Head gorilla keeper Corinne MacDonald said she hopes to introduce the baby to the rest of the troop as early as May, although he will need to be fed from a bottle for another two years.

"He's a champ," said MacDonald. "He's extremely confident, calm and amazing, and he's ahead of schedule."

The zoo was celebrating all the good news by handing out to gorilla fans 1,000 free bananas wrapped, cigar-style, with paper bands that proclaimed, "It's a gorilla!"

It has also launched a name-the-gorilla contest, and gorilla lovers ages 5 and older may enter at www.sfzoo.org. The winner gets a gorilla doll and a half-hour visit with a gorilla keeper.

The contest rules proclaim that the gorilla's name must be "of African origin," which is all the rage for contemporary gorillas and a great leap forward from the name chosen some years ago for the baby's father, Oscar Jonesy.

E-mail Steve Rubenstein at srubenstein@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle