Baby Gorilla Born at Australian Zoo

A baby gorilla is the newest addition to an Australian zoo, the second gorilla born at the zoo in seven months.

The Taronga Zoo in Sydney announced the gorilla’s birth on its website, describing the baby and its mother as “healthy” and “bonding well.”

The gender of the gorilla, born about six days ago, is not yet known because the mother is “keeping the baby very close to her,” zoo officials said.

The newborn gorilla is the seventh child for its mother, Frala.

“All’s well in hand with Frala. She has years of experience being a mother,” the zoo’s primate supervisor, Lou Grossfeldt, said in a statement. “She’s very comfortable and relaxed after another text book birth.”

The other gorilla born at the zoo within the last seven months is named Mjukuu, a male born late last year to a gorilla named Mbeli.

Zoo officials said that the two births represent “vital” progress for the zoo’s Western Lowland Gorilla breeding program. There are only 100,000 of the gorillas remaining in the wild due to hunting, poaching, forest clearance and illegal mining, the zoo said.