London Zoo celebrates birth of critically endangered baby gorilla

The mother, Mjukuu, gave birth to the infant after a speedy 17-minute labour

Zookeepers were left “grinning from ear to ear” as a gorilla belonging to a critically endangered species gave birth to a healthy baby at London Zoo on Wednesday morning.

Mjukuu, the mother – a western lowland gorilla – gave birth to the infant, who is yet to be named, following a speedy 17-minute labour.

A social media video of Mjukuu shows her cradling her newborn moments after giving birth.

London Zoo told The Independent that the baby’s sex was yet to be confirmed.

“The baby is still snuggled up with mum, so we’ve not been able to tell, and we’re leaving her to it,” a spokesperson said. “She’s a fantastic mum.”

Mother and baby are said to be doing well, with “lots of lovely cuddles”, and the infant is said to be “happily feeding”.

Zookeepers closely monitored Mjukuu’s pregnancy journey via CCTV cameras installed in the dens, and found her “tenderly holding her newborn”.

Kathryn Sanders, primates section manager at London Zoo, said: “We started our day as normal – we gave the gorillas their breakfast and began our cleaning routines.

“When we returned to their back dens, we could see Mjukuu was starting to stretch and squat – a sign that she was in labour.

Mjukuu holding her newborn infant at London Zoo (ZSL/PA)

“After a very quick labour – just 17 minutes – Mjukuu was spotted on camera tenderly holding her newborn and demonstrating her wonderful mothering instincts – cleaning her infant and checking it over.”

Zookeepers have described the infant as being closely snuggled to its mother. It will remain in close contact with her for the first six months of its life.

The zoo is also home to youngsters Alika and Gernot, who keepers said were intrigued by the newborn.

Western lowland gorillas are classified as critically endangered with a high risk of becoming extinct.

The number of western lowland gorillas in the wild has declined by more than 60 per cent over the last 25 years because of poaching and disease, according to the Zoological Society of London, which runs the zoo.

To say we’re happy about this new arrival would be a huge understatement – we’ve all been walking around grinning from ear to ear

Kathryn Sanders, primates section manager at London Zoo

Ms Sanders said: “To say we’re happy about this new arrival would be a huge understatement – we’ve all been walking around grinning from ear to ear.

“We’ll be giving mum and baby lots of time and space to get to know each other, and for the rest of the troop to get used to their new addition – they’re as excited as we are and can’t stop staring at the baby.”

The baby gorilla’s father, Kiburi, arrived at London Zoo from Tenerife, Spain in November 2022 as part of the international conservation breeding programme for western lowland gorillas.