Baby Mountain Gorilla Rescued

November 2002

Rescued gorilla

On October 4, 2002, a young mountain gorilla was confiscated from three Rwandan men who were holding her captive in the town of Ruhengiri. The animal is now receiving care from Rwanda's National Park Service and veterinary support from the Morris Animal Foundation's Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project.

The best-case scenario depends on identifying the family group the young animal belonged to, and evaluating her health status.

The three men who were holding the gorilla will also be receiving health checks. They are all in prison.

Dieter Steklis of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International believes that the youngster comes from the Susa Group, a group habituated for gorilla tourism. He commented:

There is a chance that the rescued gorilla is the infant missing from a May 9 poaching incident in which two adult females from the Susa Group were killed. Both females had babies, only one of which was found following the incident.

DNA samples from the two dead mothers and the dead baby were retained and will be compared with DNA samples from the rescued infant. If she is positively identified as the missing infant, it is hoped that can be re-introduced to her family group.