Philadelphia ZooAfter a very difficult labor, 17-year-old Kira—an endangered Gorilla at the Philadelphia Zoo—has delivered a very happy and healthy baby.
Though gorilla labor is typically pretty quick, poor Kira went into labor on Thursday for nearly 24 hours before a team of veterinarians and doctors were called in to help.
The team was composed of an OB/GYN, surgeons and anesthesiologists from hospitals affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University as well as University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, according to the DailyMail.
After about an hour and a half of hard work, they were able to successfully deliver the male baby, who came out smiling from ear-to-ear.
"It was an anxious and dramatic day at the zoo, but in the end a tremendously rewarding one," the zoo's chief operating officer, Andy Baker, said in a statement.
The mom and son were reunited on Saturday, and the photos say it all...you can almost feel the love just be looking at them!
The newborn marks the first offspring for Kira and the third for 32-year old Motuba who is also at the Philadelphia Zoo.
The family falls into the Western lowland gorilla species who inhabit forests in central Africa. The birth is exceptionally important as these gorillas are labeled a critically endangered species.