Critically Endangered Gorilla and Its Newborn Captured on Film

The Wildlife Conservation Society shared a rare video of an endangered western lowland gorilla and its infant in their natural habitat in Congo. The video was released on Friday, March 9, Reuters reported. Conservationists captured the video of female gorilla Mekome and her offspring in the rainforest of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. The scientists who captured the video believe that the baby gorilla was barely a week old when the encountered the pair. A female gorilla generally gives birth to one infant approximately every four years, and this baby is Mekome's fifth offspring. A baby gorilla spends two to three years clinging to and riding on the back of its mother. Only one of Mekome's offspring have made it into adulthood, as baby gorillas are threatened by predator attacks, disease, habitat loss and poaching. Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, and scientists believe that about 100,000 individuals are left in the wild. Reuters contributed to this report.