Zoo celebrates birth of endangered baby gorilla

Zoo celebrates birth of endangered baby gorilla

A Chicago zoo is celebrating after one of its gorillas gave birth on Mother’s Day.

Rollie, a western lowland gorilla at Lincoln Park Zoo, gave birth to a male on May 12 – which was Mother’s Day in the States.

According to the zoo, the as yet unnamed baby is “staying tucked in close and clinging to Rollie as a newborn should”.

The birth is the second for Rollie, who also delivered a female – Nayembi – back in 2012.

Rollie and her newborn infant gorilla
The infant is Rollie’s second (Christopher Bijalba/Lincoln Park Zoo)

“It’s really amazing to see this family group grow and adapt,” said Moyse. “Lincoln Park Zoo’s last gorilla birth was in 2015 when the troop welcomed newborn Bella.

Rollie feeds her newborn infant gorilla
The infant is ‘staying tucked in close and clinging to Rollie’ (Christopher Bijalba/Lincoln Park Zoo)

Western lowland gorillas, which are native to central Africa, are critically endangered in the wild because of poaching and loss of habitat.

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