Our Gorillas

Bélinga is a major iron ore deposit located close to Minkebe national park in northern Gabon. In February 2011, this female orphan was confiscated by wildlife authorities as they came upon her tied up in a village near Mékambo. She was transferred to the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (located in south-east Gabon) for initial quarantine before coming to our project in June 2011 where she was integrated into a group of 6 other orphaned gorillas (early 2012).Ivindo and Éliwa, the two eldest females, fought to carry Belinga. Since then, Bélinga has allied with Ivindo and has gained Cessé’s support which continues to compromise Ivindo’s position in the group.

Cessé arrived at the projet in December 2007 at about 2 years old. He arrived from the Evaro region (central Gabon) along with Eliwa. He was found caged at a local market destined to be sold as a pet. His gorilla family apparently comes from a forest nearby Njolé. Like all other orphans at the project, Cessé has lost his family, his home and his freedom. He has, however, now formed his own group with four other orphaned females, which will hopefully be reintroduced back into the wild. Cessé loves to play and to forage in the forest.

Etsina was named in honour of Dr. Bettina Sallé who passed away in April 2013. Sallé was an important pioneer of the PGFV as a veterinarian and primatologist. Ironically, Etsina also means root in one of Gabon’s many dialects. In June 2013, Etsina was confiscated by local wildlife authorities of Lastourville and brought to the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville for a two-month quarantine period. She was transferred to the PGFV in September 2013. After several months of forest rehabilitation, she was finally integrated into the group on Oriquet Island. She connected instantly with Bélinga and Wanga, the two other youngest gorillas in the group. She has since adapted quite well to her new life and has remained with Belinga in Cessé’s group.

In December 2007, Eliwa was transferred from the area of Evaro along with her playmate Cessé. Eliwa arrived at the Evaro ecotourism site (which closed down in 2009) in late 2006. She was apparently treated at the famous Schweitzer Hospital in Lambéréné for a fractured right arm which likely occurred while poachers removed her from the arms of her mother. She has proven to retain highly developed foraging skills and instinctive mothering skills. Despite low exposure levels to normal group dynamics in forest life, Eliwa gave birth to her daughter (Étimbouée) in May 2015 without any external assistance from humans. She has always been protective of her child and has taken meticulous care of her ever since.

Étimbouée arrived as a complete surprise to us. As a gorilla rescue and rehabilitation center, the PGFV has a no breeding policy since spaces are maintained for orphans who need to be rescued from the bushmeat trade. Her mother, then about 8 years old, was considered too young to be able to conceive. Well, life proved us otherwise and Étimbouée is the only gorilla at the PGFV to never have had physical contact with humans. Her mother, and group siblings, took on the tasks of raising her. Since then, all females at the project who are older than 6 years of age have been placed on birth control. However, we hope to one day reintroduce Étimbouée and her group back into the wild so that they can one day resume a normal life including the freedom to reproduce. Étimbouée obviously loves to play and is an avid climber ... probably because of her mother’s influence.

In November 2006, an emaciated and debilitated Gimenu arrived at the project from the local zoo of Port-Gentil. Gimenu, which means Life in the local Myene dialect, was his chosen name since he was a death’s door upon arrival. He lived for at least 3 years in solitude at the zoo after being illegally captured by poachers in Northeastern Gabon. Although it took time for him to readapt to forest life, he is now well acquainted with his 8 other gorilla friends. However, his previous years in captivity seem to have negatively impacted his ability to forage normally. Gimenu is good-natured, patient and a peacekeeper...thus a good ally for one of the dominant males (Sindila).

In September of 2005, Ivindo was flown to the project from nearby Ivindo national park, Gabon. She was integrated with Sindila who was happy to have her company. Ivindo quickly learned how to handle Sindila’s exuberant and playful character, and became an expert climber to avoid Sindila’s constant pursuits. She is also a champion nest builder and loves to forage. We hope she will be a great leader as the most senior female of her group. She has already displayed great mothering skills with each new orphan integrated to the group since 2011.

Niout was discovered in a local village before she was transferred to the Parc Assango, near Libreville, where she lived for a decade. She was approximately 2 years old when she was rescued and, as all orphans of the bushmeat trade, demonstrated a high level of resilience after being taken away from her family in the wild.

Sindila arrived at the project in June of 2005 after being rescued by a local boat pilot from poachers along the Mpivié River who were looking to sell him (though they never received compensation since gorillas are protected by law). Sindila means “be strong” in the local dialect and was chosen because he cried for several days upon arrival at the project. It goes without saying that Sindila became dependent on humans that day. This male gorilla loves to play, forage and lead his group. He is protective of his females, which is important since his recent rival (Cessé) continues to challenge his dominance as wild gorillas would.

In July 2007, this little female was captured and abandoned in front of the Loango National Park conservationist’s doorsteps. She was then flown from southwestern Gabon to the Fernan-Vaz to join Sindila, Ivindo, Cessé and Eliwa. Despite losing her family and her home...she has always been playful and courageous as reflected by her desire to live. Although she enjoys laughing and socializing, she can sometimes be a little lazy (she likes to rest a lot). Luckily, she also loves eating which pushes her to forage in the trees.