Twycross Zoo has announced the arrival of a healthy baby western lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species.
The baby gorilla was born at about 9.15am on Thursday, January 3 and the Leicestershire zoo said mum, Ozala, and baby are both doing very well.
Curator of Living Collections, Charlotte Macdonald, said: "Ozala is a confident, attentive mother and is taking great care of her baby."
There is estimated to be fewer than 100,000 western lowland gorillas left in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), bringing the species dangerously close to extinction. Hunting, habitat loss and the Ebola virus are just some of the reasons the species may cease to exist in the wild in the years to come.
Zoological Director, Sharon Redrobe, added: "Because the western lowland gorilla is such an endangered animal every gorilla birth is important, and this infant represents another vital contribution to the European Endangered Species breeding programme and to the conservation of this species."
