The Fragile Numbers of Mountain Gorillas

"It is with heartfelt sadness that Virunga announces the death of beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi, who had been under the care of the park's Senkwekwe Center for more than a decade."

"Ndakasi took her final breath in the loving arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma."

Virunga National Park statement, Congo

"It was a privilege to support and care for such a loving creature."

"It was Ndakasi's sweet nature and intelligence that helped me to understand the connection between humans and great apes and why we should do everything in our power to protect them."

"I loved her like a child and her cheerful personality brought a smile to my face every time I interacted with her."

Andre Bauma, ranger, Congo's Virunga National Park

Ndakasi with her caretaker Andre Bauma, before her death days later   Getty Images

 

She was a two-month-old baby gorilla when she was discovered by park rangers. A tiny creature clinging to her mother's lifeless body, gunned down by an armed militia group in 2007. When Ndakasi died on September 26, she was 14 years old. Not a long life for a gorilla. With no one to nurture and care for the tiny animal she would soon die, unable to fend for herself, not yet weaned, and too young to know how to find food to sustain herself, much less protect herself as a helpless young animal, from predators.

The night she was discovered alone and vulnerable, one of the rangers comforted her, holding the baby gorilla against his bare chest. She took his heart from the very beginning. And the beginning stretched into a lifetime (her lifetime) of devoted care. "We shared the same bed, I played with her, I fed her… I can say I am her mother." Mr. Bauma is the manager of the wildlife orphanage where Ndakasi was raised to adulthood. In a sense, fate cheated her, her long illness led to her untimely death, when the average lifespan of her species is 40 years.

She and another orphaned baby gorilla who was also rescued by park rangers who took them to the Senkwekwe rescue centre in Goma, patterned themselves after their keepers whom they regarded as their parents. When very young animals are intimately exposed to other animals who adopt them, a bond ensues where the young animal is patterned to believe itself the progeny of its caregiver, following them and mimicking their actions and behaviour.

 

Ndakasi (left) became famous after appearing in a selfie with her caretaker and friend. (Mathieu Shamavu/Virunga National Park via AP)

 

Ndaksi and the other baby gorilla with whom she lived in the Senkwekwe Center, Ndeze, came to wide public notice, becoming celebrities when a documentary film titled "Virunga" was made featuring the two adopted orphans. In particular, a photograph highlighting the two standing casually on two feet as though nothing distinguished them from their caregivers and bipedalism was natural for them, drew great attention from a facinated public. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo has for many years been embroiled in violent conflict between armed militias, some of which have established themselves in the vast area encompassing Virunga National Park. It is a region of threats to safety of the animals who inhabit the park, and poaching is not unknown. Over 200 park rangers have lost their lives in attempting to protect the park and its creatures. The militias are known to launch massacres of guerrilla groups.

 

The mountain gorilla is considered a species at risk of extinction. There are just over a thousand of the gorillas in Congo, an increase of about 47 percent from the time that Ndakasi was found trying to suckle from her dead mother. Neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda are home to other groups of mountain gorillas.. Conservation has helped their survival and their numbers are slowly increasing.