ENDANGERED GORILLA BORN AT TWYCROSS ZOO

A proud gorilla mum welcomes her newborn baby western lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species. The adorable baby gorilla was born at approximately 9.15am on Thursday 3rd January at Twycross Zoo, Leicestershire. Mum, Ozala, experienced a natural and stress-free birth and is keeping the new arrival very close to her. Curator of Living Collections, Charlotte Macdonald, said: “Ozala is a confident, attentive mother and is taking great care of her baby. The baby’s father, our silverback Oumbie, is gentle but protective and is showing a lot of interest in the infant. On the day of the baby’s birth he was very inquisitive, sitting beside Ozala and putting his face right up to the baby to smell it. In time, he will touch and play with the baby but for now he lets Ozala take things at her own pace.” The western lowland gorilla is listed as 'critically endangered' on the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species, as there are estimated to be fewer than 100,000 left in the wild.

Other great stories
TAXIDERMY ART BOOK

A KITTEN'S teaparty and rat's playing dominoes are the bizarre creations by one of Britain's great eccentrics pictured in an incredible new book .

BACKFLIPPING SHARK SOARS DURING SEAL HUNT

Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .

PUPPY RUN OVER BY TRAIN GIVEN NEW LEASH OF LIFE

A tiny puppy who lost his front legs after being hit by a train has been given and new LEASH of life with a set of wheels .

CEMETERY FINES

A COUNCIL has come under fire for slapping fines on people’s GRAVESTONES for breaching petty regulations on pot plants .

CUTE MINI LION

MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .

HIS BAIT WAS SEALED

15-foot-long great white sharks on the hunt, in False Bay, South Africa - SHOCK and awe pictures of 15-foot-long great whites on the hunt will leave you stunned .

JOLY THE WOLLY FALLS FOR PARKING PRANK

PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .

MESMERIZING STAR TRAILS

MESMERIZING night sky photographs offer a spellbinding look at the stars .

CRICKET FINDS AN UNUSUAL SEAT

A cricket perches on an unusual seat after crawling up the snout of a crocodile .

VICTORIAN TENNIS RULE BOOK REVEALS GAME PLAYED BY THREE

TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book .

THE DANGEROUS WORK OF SULPHUR MINERS

These are the men with one of the most unpleasant jobs in the world .

KRYPONITE BEACH

LUMINOUS green rocks could easily be a beach from Superman's homeland of Krypton .