Finally after much anticipation, Dublin Zoo was delighted to announce today that the baby gorilla, who was born two weeks ago in the Zoo, is a boy.
The zoo keepers have been monitoring the baby gorilla around the clock trying to determine the baby’s sex and team leader Ciaran Mahon revealed today that it is in face a boy.
Lena, Mummy Gorilla, has been so protective of her new baby and was holding him so close that keepers were not able to determine if it was a boy or a girl. However, over the past few days Lena loosened her grasp on her little son just long enough for the keeps to confirm its gender.
Ciaran McMahon, team leader responsible for the gorillas said, “We were just as eager to find out the sex of the newborn as much as everyone else. I’m delighted to say that both mum and baby are doing extremely well. Lena is such an experienced mother that we have every confidence in her nurturing and rearing a healthy baby boy.”
The lowland gorillas have been one of the big attractions of Dublin Zoo for many years and this little boy is a welcome addition to the family. He has yet to be named however, and the Zoo would like to invite visitors to suggest names based on his West African origin. You can submit your suggestion when visiting the Zoo at the Learning & Discovery Centre.
For the first time ever Dublin Zoo can share the baby’s earliest moments with the public as it was captured on RTÉ One’s programme The Zoo, which airs Friday night, April 15th at 7.30pm. You can also catch a sneak peek at the newborn’s first moments right here.
