Visitors can only see Dallas Zoo's baby gorilla in the mornings

DALLAS - Say hello to the Dallas Zoo’s newest baby. The newborn gorilla made its official debut for visitors Thursday.

The baby is the Dallas Zoo’s first critically endangered gorilla born in 20 years and the fifth gorilla born at the zoo over the past 50 years.

Mom continues to keep the baby very close so staff members haven’t been able to confirm its gender yet. The zoo hopes to reveal the gender and a name in the coming weeks.

Before the baby’s arrival, the zoo worked on baby-proofing the habitat.

“Our water feature that we have inside we put rocks in the deeper part so the water is shallow and we slow the flow down. As you can see, we trimmed in there recently just to make sure everything is cut nicely for the mom to move around without worrying about the baby getting poked,” said Keith Zdrojewski, the zoo’s curator of animals.

He said the biggest challenge now is the Texas summer.

“We would love to share this all day with the zoo patrons. But just like you wouldn't want to take your newborn child out in this heat, we don’t want that to happen either. So first thing in the morning, we give access in the habitat with mom. She can choose to go into the air conditioning or not. By midday, we lock them inside so the baby doesn't dehydrate,” Zdrojewski said.

So for now, anyone who wants to see the baby with mom should visit the gorilla habitat in the early morning hours.