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A western lowland gorilla is born at the Fort Worth Zoo



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A baby leaping gorilla was born at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas.

The unnamed baby is only the second western lowland gorilla born at the facility, according to a Facebook post.

The baby was born early on Nov. 6 to parents Gracie and Elmo, the zoo says.

It will probably weigh between 4 and 5 pounds, which is normal for newborn gorillas. But as an adult, it could weigh up to 500 pounds, according to the Smithsonian Zoo’s size estimates for western lowland gorillas.

Gorillas are divided into two species: western and eastern gorillas, each of which has two subspecies. The western lowland gorilla is the most widespread and numerous of the four subspecies, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, though the exact population size is unknown. Great apes live in the dense rainforests of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.

But even though the western lowland gorilla is the most numerous gorilla subspecies, it has still faced severe population declines due to poaching and disease in recent decades, says the Global Fund for Human Rights Nature. The species is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

So far, the newborn gorilla “stays close to his mother” as he meets other members of the Fort Worth Zoo’s gorilla herd, according to the Facebook post.

“The pair continue to bond, but are also fully integrated into the herd, mimicking family dynamics in the wild,” the zoo said.

Visitors can catch a glimpse of the mother and baby in the zoo’s World of Primates exhibit. The facility has six gorillas, not counting the newborn, according to its website.

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