Zoo celebrates gorilla's birth
Updated on 19 December 2008
A gorilla has given birth at an Israeli zoo as Unesco name 2009 as The Year of the Gorilla.
The baby's mother - named Leah - has been seen caring for her new arrival in the gorilla enclosure, but it is still unclear if it is a boy or a girl.
Amalia Turkel, the curator for the Safari Park at Ramat Gan, said: "We are very happy with the eighth gorilla in our gorilla group."
She added that interest in the new baby will allow the safari park to teach visitors about threats to the gorillas' natural habitat.
Ms Turkel said: "Through the story of this gorilla, and through the story of gorillas in general, we can try and tell people what is happening to the rain forests of the world."
There are 750 to 800 gorillas living in captivity around the world and every year there are only about 16-20 births in captivity, which makes the birth a very rare occurrence.
There are only about 100,000 gorillas living the wild and environmental threats mean this number is likely to be significantly reduced in the coming ten years.
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