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Bristol Zoo's baby gorilla named after parents

Bristol Zoo Gardens Baby gorilla Juni being cradledBristol Zoo Gardens
Juni has been named after his mother Touni and his father Jock

A four-month-old baby gorilla born in lockdown at Bristol Zoo has been named Juni - after his parents.

The western lowland gorilla was given the name after mother Touni and father Jock following a poll of staff and volunteers at Bristol Zoo.

He is the second baby to be born to Touni following his sister Ayana in April 2017, who still lives at the zoo.

Due to hunting for their meat, western lowland gorillas are critically endangered in the wild.

Mother Touni came to Bristol Zoo in September 2015 from La Vallee des Singes zoo in France to be a breeding partner to Jock, who arrived at the zoo 12 years earlier.

Bristol Zoo Gardens Baby gorilla Juni and his mother TouniBristol Zoo Gardens
Gorilla babies usually stay with their mothers until three or four

The zoo's curator of mammals Lynsey Bugg said Juni, who was born on 22 December, will be learning to eat, walk and climb from four to six months old.

"He's wobbly but can stand and is just starting to try and take the odd step and gradually begin to walk. He is also beginning to try solid food," Ms Bugg said.

Juni may well be the last gorilla to be born at the zoo after it announced in November it would be leaving its Clifton site after 185 years.

Bristol Zoo Gardens Baby gorilla Juni and his mother TouniBristol Zoo Gardens
Due to lockdown, visitors to the zoo are only now getting a glimpse of Juni

Juni is not the only new animal to arrive at the zoo during lockdown. In March, the zoo welcomed its first baby sloth in a decade.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates the number of western lowland gorillas in the wild has declined by 60% over the last 20 to 25 years.

Bristol Zoological Society, which operates the Bristol Zoo and the Wild Place Project in north Bristol, supports a sanctuary in Cameroon which helps to look after orphaned gorillas and chimpanzees.