In a major conservation effort, four female eastern lowland gorillas were airlifted from Kasuhgo in the Democratic Republic of Congo and released into Virunga National Park in October, aiming to protect the endangered species and help them return to a safer, natural environment.
According to accuweather, less than a year later, they have all successfully integrated into a group of wild gorillas, in what is being hailed as the largest translocation of the subspecies ever. Conservationists hope that its success will not only prevent the local extinction of an isolated population, but provide essential knowledge needed to protect the critically endangered apes in the future.
The females – named Isangi, Lulingu, Mapendo and Ndjingala, and aged between 10 and 21 years old – were rescued from the illegal wildlife trade as babies and taken to the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE) where they were rehabilitated over a long period of time, learning to forage and socialize as they would in the wild. Deemed ready for release, last fall they were flown to Mount Tshiaberimu – or “Mountain of the Spirits” – a 1,700-meter (5,577-foot) peak in the northern region of the national park, where they were kept in a fenced enclosure before being released into the wild.
The gorilla monitoring team, who expected the transition to take anywhere between several months to several years, were astounded when, in less than two months, they appeared ready to leave the enclosure.
“It happened much quicker than we all anticipated,” says Katie Fawcett, executive and science director for GRACE Gorillas, the NGO leading the rewilding process alongside Virunga National Park and local communities.
This was partly down to the allure of a handsome wild silverback called Mwasa, who approached the fence of the enclosure day after day, beating his arms on the ground and grunting to catch the females’ attention. It worked: they responded to his calls and even chose to abandon their indoor dens to sleep closer to him along the fence line.
Watching on carefully, the monitoring team decided that it was the natural time to let the females join him. “We really pride ourselves on every decision being gorilla led,” Fawcett tells CNN. “After three days of attention directed at the magnificent Mwasa … the decision was made: ‘let’s go for it.’ The fence was cut so they could come out.”
Since then, to the team’s surprise and delight, the four females have quickly settled into life in the wild, adjusting to the colder climate on the mountain’s steep hills and a new diet of bamboo shoots and other native plants.
While rangers continue to monitor the gorillas’ health, collecting non-invasive biological samples and conducting visual assessments, so far the gorillas have shown no clinical signs of stress – in fact, they are looking “amazing,” says Fawcett, with thick, shiny coats and full bellies.
The biggest excitement came in the new year, when Mwasa was spotted mating with Ndjingala, a 16-year-old female, for the first time. Since then, the other three have also been seen mating with him, according to Fawcett. As gorillas have a similar gestation period to humans, the team are eagerly counting down the days to September, but she says they are cautiously optimistic: “It’s probably going to take some time as the female gorillas were on contraception while they were in the sanctuary at GRACE.
