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
ABANDONED FARM HOUSE LEFT TO ROT

With a dust covered coat hung from a wardrobe door and a pair of glasses left on a shelf, a remote farmhouse lies abandoned in the Welsh countryside .

FROZEN WATERFALLS

COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .

CHUCKLING SEAL

CHUCKLING away, this little seal appears to find something hilarious .

NAKED SLACKLINERS TACKLE NEW CHALLENGES

BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .

ROAD-KILL CUDDLY TOYS

With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .

FISH TSUNAMI

A TSUNAMI of predatory fish gather for their annual hunt .

CHEEKY GORILLA

A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .

GRAND PRIX-INSPIRED ESPRESSO MACHINE

This may look like a monster car engine that will leave petrol heads in a spin, but it is in fact a rather snazzy looking COFFEE MACHINE .

EUROSTAR-BUCKS

THIS ONE of a kind experience brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'a coffee to go' .

BRAVE LEOPARD BEFRIENDS A CROC

A brave leopard kicks back and relaxes in the sunshine - just inches from an enormous crocodile .

HOUSEWORK-OUT

STEPFORD wives from the 1950's and 60's are performing history's most sexist exercise programme .