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Bristol Zoo Gardens has just celebrated the new addition to their family with the successful delivery of a baby gorilla through caesarean section on February 12 after her mother, Kera manifested signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia, a potentially-life threatening medical complication.

Following our assessment, we considered that Kera might have a condition that humans get (preeclampsia) and that the only way to treat it was by delivery. We also thought that the baby in her uterus was showing signs of being very unwell and in need of delivery," said professor of reproductive medicine and medical education at the University of Bristol David Cahill who helped the zoo-based veterinary team in the delivery as reported by LiveScience.

The baby western lowland gorilla weighing 2 pounds and 10 ounces is the first ever gorilla born through C-section at the said zoo.

"The birth of any gorilla is a rare and exciting event, but the birth of a baby gorilla by caesarean section is even more unusual. It wasn't a decision that we took lightly -- Kera was becoming quite poorly and we needed to act fast in order to give the best possible treatment to mother and baby, and to avoid the possibility of losing the baby," John Partridge, senior curator of animals as quoted by CBS News.

According to a report by BBC News, The 11-day-old baby gorilla is identified as a critically endangered species by experts. So Bristol Zoo's in-house team of animal experts are trying to make Kera get used to parenting although it might prove difficult as she had not experienced having a baby in her life. The zoo mulls on getting a foster mother for the baby if their plans for Kera fails.