A Young Gorilla Pounds His Chest to Draw His Mother’s Attention Away From His Newborn Sibling

In September 2016, a Western lowland gorilla named Ozala at the Twycross Zoo cradled her newborn baby in her arms while a seemingly jealous older brother named Lopes pounded his chest, made faces and even slapped his mother in an effort to get her attention. Rather than reacting harshly, however, Ozala just doubled down in her protection of the little one. The western lowland gorilla is considered to be critically endangered by the IUCN Red List with zoos around the world assisting with species repopulation.

Only 5 days old, a rare, endangered Western lowland gorilla baby was born on the 24th September 2016 at the Twycross Zoo in Atherstone, England. The little one is cradled by its proud mum Ozala ( 22 years old ) with dad Oumbi ( 24 years old) not far away.

In February 2017, Lopes was still looking for attention or at least someone with whom he can play.