Three month old Joanne, the youngest gorilla at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, has learnt the art of riding on her mom's back and crawling. The zoo keepers said that she is right on track with development of her age.

This comes as a great relief after considering the fact that she had faced many medical problems soon after her birth.

Joanne was born on March 12 via rare emergency C-section and two days later she suffered a collapsed lung. She underwent a full treatment for it and received around-the-clock care until she made a full recovery.

Joanne is named after Joanne Warren, the first chairwoman of the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global and is the first child of her mother Imani. She is the 17th gorilla to be born at Safari Park that currently houses eight other gorillas.

Zoo officials further reported that Joanne is becoming more independent with time but still is pretty attached to her mom Imani and can be seen riding on her back as she forages for food.

"While Imani is eating browse, we've seen Joanne grab a handful and mouth it. She's got about six teeth now so it's not quite enough to chew browse, but she definitely mouths and will suck on it", said zookeeper Jami Pawlowski in a statement.

She added that the baby gorilla likes to investigate everything and is attracted to everything that her mother holds.

According to the National Zoo, most baby gorillas walk within the first six months, by age 3 they are ready to leave their moms and by age 7 they are ready to have families of their own. They have a lifespan of 54 years.