London Zoo: Critically endangered gorilla baby born - in a 'conservation win' for threatened subspecies

London Zoo has welcomed a critically endangered western lowland gorilla baby, a big boost for a unique subspecies now considered critically endangered in the wild.

The Zoological Society of London conservation zoo's gorilla keepers were carrying out their usual morning duties at around on Wednesday morning (17 January), when they noticed that a female called Mjukuu had gone into labour. They gave the experienced mum some space and monitored her via CCTV cameras installed in the dens. After a quick, 17 minute labour, the tiny infant was born at 9.34am, after an eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy.

Moments after giving birth in the privacy of their back dens, second-time mum Mjukuu could be seen gently cradling her newborn, before allowing the troop’s curious youngsters Alika and Gernot to examine the new arrival. London Zoo’s primates section manager Kathryn Sanders said: “We started our day as normal – we gave the gorillas their breakfast and began our cleaning routines."

But when they returned to the dens, staff could see Mjukuu "starting to stretch and squat" – a sign that she was in labour. “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," she said.

The birth of a western lowland gorilla is a real cause for celebration. The subspecies - smaller than other western gorillas - is critically endangered, and as a result of poaching and disease their numbers in the wild have declined by more than 60% over the last 25 years. They live in dense and largely remote rainforests in Africa, making it hard for conservationists to confirm their exact numbers, but due to substantial known losses the subspecies is now categorised as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The infant was fathered by Kiburi, who arrived at London Zoo from Tenerife in November 2022 as part of the international conservation breeding programme for western lowland gorillas – which ensures the preservation of a genetically diverse and healthy population of the gorilla subspecies.

“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," Ms Sanders added. “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.”

Zookeepers are yet to confirm the sex of the infant, who has remained closely snuggled in its adoring mum’s arms. The baby gorilla will remain in close contact with mum for around the first six months of its life, the zoo said.