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Zürich zoo celebrates gorilla birth

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Zürich zoo celebrates gorilla birth
Photo: Robert Zingg/Zürich Zoo

A gorilla at Zürich Zoo has given birth to her first ever child, zoo authorities announced on Tuesday.

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A gorilla at Zürich Zoo has given birth to her first ever child, zoo authorities announced on Tuesday.

 

The baby western lowland gorilla, whose sex has not yet been ascertained, was born in the small hours of Saturday morning to the zoo’s gorilla N’Yokumi, who turned 10 on Sunday. The father of the new arrival is N’Gola, a 34-year-old silverback. 

 

Zookeepers say N’Yokumi is caring for the baby well. Other young gorillas in the enclosure are showering attention on the new member of the clan, something N’Yokumi appears relaxed about.

 

The birth is the 29th time a western lowland gorilla has been born at Zürich zoo, which is currently home to members of the species. There are believed to be 150,000-200,000 western lowland gorillas in the wild in equatorial Africa and about 550 in captivity. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as ‘Critically Endangered’.

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