10th Birth for Reintroduced Gorillas in Congo

This latest addition to the troupe of 6 gorillas was born to ‘Matoko', a 10-year old female, who arrived at the project's rehabilitation centre when she was just 3 years old. She arrived into The Aspinall Foundation's care with another 3 year old female orphan of the bushmeat trade called Likendzé. It is probable that the two girls were from the same gorilla family that had been brutally massacred by poachers hunting for bushmeat. So traumatized by the horror of what they had seen, Matoko and Likendze simply clung to each other in fear. Matoko would show her impressive teeth in a bid to protect herself and Likendze would simply bow her head in fear. However, seven years later, in a true testament to the vital work of The Aspinall Foundation, Likendzé gave birth to the ninth baby just three weeks prior to Matoko. Both gorillas belong to a group introduced into the reserve in 2003,  led by the dominant silverback male 'Makoua' who sired the world's first gorilla to be born to a reintroduced group back in 2004.

James Osborne, Chairman of The Aspinall Foundation, commented:

"We are delighted by the news of the birth of Matoko's infant, and indeed Likendze's before that. A mere seven years ago the infants were so traumatized that they refused to move. Now they have both given birth. Each birth reinforces the success of the reintroduction and we now have three viable groups of gorillas within the Lesio-Louna reserve."

This latest birth is the third for the Congo project in 2009, and is further confirmation of the success of this unique mission to return Western Lowland gorillas to protected areas in the wild.

The Aspinall Foundation has been working in the Congo and the Gabon towards the rehabilitation and reintroduction of Western Lowland gorillas for over 20 years. While the project initially focused on providing shelter and care to young orphaned gorillas whose parents had been killed as part of the ongoing bushmeat trade, the project has gradually evolved over the years to include reintroduction, ecosystem management, tourism, local community development projects and wildlife law enforcement. The reintroduction projects aim to re-establish viable, self-sustaining populations within the former range of the species and, thanks to the dedicated efforts of project staff, have had a high survival rate of over 80%, and have been extremely successful in terms of adaptation to forest life and reproduction.

While this most recent birth is yet another positive step towards achieving the project's goals, gorillas remain critically endangered in the wild - under threat from habitat destruction, hunting and disease.

Posted 24.03.10