TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) It’s a baby boom……. of the animal kind!Earlier this week,we introduced you to Lowry Park Zoo’s newest resident, a rare endangered Malayan tiger cub.
Today, we introduce you to another baby, an endangered western lowland gorilla. Little “Oliver” is the newest member of the gorilla troop in Busch Gardens’ Myombe Reserve Habitat. He was born on Aug. 18.
His mother is Mary, an endangered western lowland gorilla who came to Bush Gardens in February of 2010 from a zoo in Brownsville, Texas. His father is Bolingo, age 10, who was born at Busch Gardens in 2005.
A Busch Gardens spokesperson said Oliver is the seventh gorilla to call Busch Gardens home.
The western lowland gorilla lives in the tropical forests of West Africa. Due to poaching and disease-induced habitat destruction, western lowland gorillas are listed as a critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of endangered species.
