It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Dublin Zoo’s newest resident, a baby western lowland gorilla. First it arrives into the world on April 1st and then melts the hearts of the nation after pictures were released.
And just when we thought there wasn’t enough cute left in the world, the zoo has released even more images of the creature nestling into its mother Kafi.
"Mum Kafi and baby are both going from strength to strength and the rest of the troop are excited to welcome a new member to their troop," Dublin Zoo's official Instagram page said on Friday as it published new images of the unnamed primate.
“The sex of the baby is still to be determined; it may be a number of weeks before Kafi lets her baby go for a check-up. Once the team have determined the sex, there will be a competition to name the little one”.
It said western lowland gorillas originate from the dense rainforests of Central Africa and are classed as critically endangered in the wild.
They have suffered from deforestation, commercial hunting and a highly contagious virus called Ebola. Their numbers in the wild are expected to fall by over 80 per cent between 1980 and 2046.
Kafi ho arrived at Dublin Zoo in 2012 while the newborn's father called Bangui is nine years old.
Bangui came to Dublin Zoo in 2018 following the death of long-time alpha male ‘silverback’ Harry.
The term ‘silverback’ is used because of the silvery white hair on an alpha males’ back and hips.
Bangui was quickly accepted as the new alpha-male of the troop and has begun his transformation into a ‘silverback’ gorilla.