Meet the critically endangered baby gorilla recently born at Belfast Zoo

A special delivery arrived at Belfast Zoo in the early hours of Friday 8th October.

An adorable Western lowland gorilla was born naturally to mother Kamili, with father Gugas and the rest of their troop close by.

For the first few months, newborn gorillas cling to their mother’s stomach, so it will be a while before the gender can be determined.

With less than 100,000 Western lowland gorillas are classed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), so this is a remarkable achievement for the team at Belfast Zoo.

Zoo Curator, Julie Mansell said: "This birth is fantastic news for Belfast Zoo, as we are part of an internationally important breeding and conservation programme which is designed to help safeguard the future of western lowland gorillas."

Belfast Zoo’s silverback gorilla Gugas arrived in 1998 and is genetically very important to the European breeding programme. He has since fathered four infants in Belfast.

Our Senior Reporter Sarah McKinley took a trip to Belfast Zoo to catch a closer glimpse of this adorable new family.

Belfast Zoo Opening Hours:

Visitors have a chance to see the newest arrival in the zoo’s gorilla house. The zoo is open every day 10am – 4pm with last admission at 2.30pm. Online booking is essential.

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• belfast zoo
• endangered species
• western lowland gorillas
• Newborn