Snuggled peacefully on its mother's giant chest, this baby gorilla is most certainly in the right hands.

The youngster has been so closely protected zookeepers have been unable to get near enough to determine its sex. Until then, they will hold back on a name.

The tiny ape was born to 29-year-old mother Rebecca and father Viatu at Frankfurt Zoo in Germany on Tuesday morning. It is Rebecca's eight offspring.

Zoo chief Manfred Niekisch said: 'Rebecca is a good, caring mother.'

He may be one of Ireland's most famous residents, and he might be about to celebrate his first birthday - but that doesn't mean Kituba the baby gorilla always gets his way.

As these pictures from Dublin Zoo show, the infant was left frustrated after he tried to grab a banana from his mother Lena - who made sure she got to enjoy the snack herself.

The stern mother was obviously in no mood for any monkey business and even struck a threatening pose for the cameras after devouring the treat.

The pair are residents of Dublin Zoo's Gorilla Rainforest, a £2.5million development consisting of 12,000 square meters of undulating forest that is the perfect habitat for the zoo's breeding troop of western lowland gorillas. Tomorrow the zoo will kick off a weekend of celebrations to mark Kituba's first birthday, when the rainforest will be transformed into a funfair filled with family activities.
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