GORILLA SANCTUARY

The communication is not easy with the area chosen, deep into the east jungle of Congo. An ONU Peace Force helicopter took the first four gorillas on April 2010 and other, a seven-month baby, went afterwards.

The group of 30 gorillas which will be able to be hosted by sanctuary GRACE (Gorillas rehabilitation and conservationist education center), founded by Dian Fossey Foundation, is of a species called Grauer (Gorilla beringei graueri). This species lives in the savannahs of East Congo and is the biggest one among the four subspecies – these gorillas can weight 230 kilograms.

In 1995, the estimative was that 16 thousand gorillas were ling in the wild. This number has dropped tragically, although the territory they live are large and isolated of human populations. The problem is that the hunters get into the woods to kill the adults and take the babies.

This seven-month baby, called Kyasa, was rescued in December 2010, wounded and very debilitated. He was kept in quarantine for a month at the city of Goma before he went to the sanctuary.

Apart from the five gorillas at the sanctuary, another six are waiting for the transference and are kept in temporary facilities at the city of Kingi, in Rwanda. The intention of this sanctuary is to release the gorillas in the wild. This subspecies is not very well known by humans – there are only two individuals in zoos in the world, at Antuerpia, Belgian.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International