Mother keeps baby close to her heart

DUBLIN ZOO’S latest arrival is being so carefully guarded by its mother that keepers still can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl.

The baby gorilla, yet to be named, was born last Sunday afternoon and weighs just 1.81kg.

The infant joins a band of five other “western lowland” gorillas at the zoo which includes two siblings; Alfie (born 2003) and Evindi (born 2006).

The baby gorilla has been “cradled non-stop” by its doting mother Lena since the birth and keepers have so far been unable to identify its gender.

The gorilla’s father, Harry, a 24-year-old silverback, weighing 205kg, is said to be keeping a protective eye on his new charge.

Ciarán McMahon, team leader responsible for the gorillas, said: “The youngster is doing very well, within minutes the baby was feeding from mum which is a very good sign. We can tell that the infant is strong because there are a lot of head movements .”

“The new arrival is a great success for Dublin Zoo as part of the European breeding programme for these critically endangered primates.We are one of a few zoos to have a gorilla family living together and we can see that the bonds between the group are very strong.”

The gorillas are due to be moved from their antiquated enclosure in the main section of the campus to a new rainforest habitat in the African Plains area next year. The western lowland sub-species of gorilla are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The number of these impressive ground-dwelling primates is estimated to have fallen by more than 80 per cent in the wild as a result of commercial hunting and the highly contagious Ebola virus.