Updated at 6:15 p.m. Sunday: Revised to include the gorilla's name and gender.

For the first time in 20 years, the Dallas Zoo has a new baby gorilla in its troop and now that baby has a name.

The female gorilla, who is almost a month old, was named Saambili after Aldegonde Saambili, a caretaker with the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center, or GRACE, the zoo's conservation partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The zoo announced the baby's name and gender Friday.

Hope, a Western lowland gorilla, gave birth to the five-pound baby on June 25 after about an hour of labor. Saambili made her first public appearance July 5 with Hope, father Subira and other members of the troop.

The newborn is the fifth the zoo has cared for in nearly 50 years and the first born at the zoo since it welcomed Wakub, also known as Jake, in January 1998.

Keith Zdrojewski, curator of primates and carnivores, said after waiting two decades for a baby gorilla, "we wanted her name to have real meaning."

"With many women in the Congo facing issues of inequality, high rates of violence, and poverty, I'm proud to honor Aldegonde Saambili with the recognition she deserves as a remarkable female conservationist in a very conflicted country," Zdrojewski said in a written statement.

The zoo gave no indication that a gorilla infant was on the way before the announcement that she was already here.

The baby is the first for father Subira, a silverback gorilla, who gently put his lips on the infant's head shortly after it was born, the zoo said.

Zoo President and CEO Gregg Hudson said the zoo has "waited patiently" for 20 years to welcome a critically endangered gorilla newborn.

"We've dedicated years of conservation field work to saving gorillas in the wild and now we're proudly increasing their numbers in human care," Hudson said in a written statement. "We're truly beaming with pride. "

1 / 7Hope holds her baby gorilla at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Thursday, July 5, 2018. The newborn gorilla is the fifth the zoo has cared for in nearly 50 years and the first born at the zoo since it welcomed Wakub, also known as Jake, in January 1998. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 2 / 7Hope looks at her baby gorilla at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Thursday, July 5, 2018. The newborn gorilla is the fifth the zoo has cared for in nearly 50 years and the first born at the zoo since it welcomed Wakub, also known as Jake, in January 1998. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 3 / 7Hope holds her baby gorilla at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Thursday, July 5, 2018. The newborn gorilla is the fifth the zoo has cared for in nearly 50 years and the first born at the zoo since it welcomed Wakub, also known as Jake, in January 1998. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 4 / 7Subira eats celery at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Thursday, July 5, 2018. Subira is the father of the new baby gorilla. The newborn is the fifth the zoo has cared for in nearly 50 years and the first born at the zoo since it welcomed Wakub, also known as Jake, in January 1998. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 5 / 7Hope holds her baby gorilla at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Thursday, July 5, 2018. The newborn gorilla is the fifth the zoo has cared for in nearly 50 years and the first born at the zoo since it welcomed Wakub, also known as Jake, in January 1998. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 6 / 7The Dallas Zoo's newborn gorilla sleeps against mother, Hope, while she eats. The baby was born June 25 and is the first baby gorilla at the zoo in 20 years.(Courtesy / Dallas Zoo) 7 / 7Hope's baby clings to her shortly after birth June 25 at the Dallas Zoo. The baby gorilla is the first at the zoo in 20 years. (Dallas Zoo)

Hope, 22, moved to the Dallas Zoo from the Pittsburgh Zoo in February 2017 based on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan. She had her first baby in 2004 at the ABQ BioPark in Albuquerque.

Throughout Hope's 8 1/2 month pregnancy, keepers monitored the baby's growth through ultrasounds.

"Reproducing critically endangered species is no easy feat, and this moment doesn't come without its share of obstacles," Harrison Edell, the zoo's vice president of animal care and conservation, said in a statement. "We're feeling a ton of emotions — excitement, relief, gratitude — and now we have to ensure this infant grows into a successful member of our gorilla troop."

The baby is the ninth member of the zoo's gorilla troop, which is divided into the bachelor troop, which lives on the south side of the Gorilla Trail, and the family troop, which lives on the north side.

The mother and newborn bonded behind the scenes with other members of the family troop who inspected the baby with a mix of inquisitiveness and respect, the zoo said.

"It's incredible to see how our troop is reacting to the baby — they're all managing well and Hope has been super patient with their presence," Zdrojewski said.