Kimya, a 10-year-old western lowland gorilla, has given birth at Melbourne Zoo, marking the first arrival for the species there in 15 years.

Keepers said the sex and weight of the baby had yet to be determined as they were giving the first-time mother and her child time to themselves.

Melbourne Zoo director Kevin Tanner said the birth, which happened at about 6:00pm on Saturday, went well.

“She was just fantastic. She was very attentive, showed a great interest in the baby and grabbed it straight away, so far it’s going beautifully,” Mr Tanner said.

“We had no keeper or vet intervention. We just let her go.

“Mum’s doing great, she was up and about and moving around straight after the birth. She had the baby holding it to her chest and they bonded very well.”

Mr Tanner said the birth also captured the attention of the other members of the group.

“We also had her with her mate, the male Otana, the dad. He has great interest in the baby,” he said.

“He was a little bit, not spooked but he didn’t really know what it was to start with, but he’s been great.

“The rest of the other girls in the group, the troupe, were there as well watching, so we had the whole group together.”

Mr Tanner said keepers had been working around the clock for the past month waiting for the impeding birth.

“We’re terribly excited. It’s a momentous occasion,” he said.

“We haven’t had a baby (gorilla) here for about 15 years.”

He said they hoped to have more births in the future, and Kimya’s experience would help the other gorillas during the process.

The keepers will now put together a list of 12 potential names for the new arrival, which will be put out for the public to choose.

The first gorilla ever born in Australia was Mzuri, who arrived at Melbourne Zoo in 1984 thanks to artificial insemination.

He is now part of a breeding group in Europe.

Seven gorillas in total have been born at the zoo.

Mr Tanner said the new mother and baby would be on display soon.