Amos Courage is Overseas Director for The Aspinall Foundation.
In May I travelled to Congo with a group of visitors that included my mother Sally Aspinall and Chairman of the Aspinall Foundation James Osborne.
We started the trip by seeing the youngest group of five orphan gorillas, who are still being looked after by carers in the nursery area to the south of the reserve. The oldest and dominant gorilla in the group is four-year-old female Tanga, who is presently nearly double the size of the next eldest Kingoue (who is just over 3 years old). When looking at a youngster like little Kingoue, it never ceases to amaze me that, when fully grown, an adult silverback will weigh more than 200kg. The latest orphan to arrive was Loketo, who clung to his carer’s leg as we approached the group in the forest. The sex ratio of the group is male heavy (2 females and 3 males) so the reintroduction of this group will be difficult as these new male arrivals might be considered a threat by the elder reintroduced groups within the reserve.
Next we all headed to the new reserve headquarters positioned opposite Abio Island where the silverback Yambo (also known as Sid) now lives alone. Sid is looking very well despite a chronically infected tooth, he performed a series of rushes towards our party who were watching him from the safety of a large dugout canoe a couple of metres from the shore. Sid taught us a quick lesson in Gorilla manners by getting a little close for comfort, so we decided to move back to the other bank to watch him finish his dinner.
Lastly we visited Makoua and his reintroduced group within the reserve. Makoua looks magnificent – along with several of his females and his baby Teke. A week after we visited the group a second baby was born to the dominant female Djembo.
It was a wonderful trip that was finished off with an exhibition football match between two villages held in our honour, as well as a touching performance by local school children featuring talking trees, gorillas and their battle with charcoal producers (a serious threat to the forest within the reserve).
The Aspinall Foundation has reintroduced 51 Gorillas back into the wild so far, and they continually strive to protect the Western Lowland Gorilla. The Aspinall Foundation also extends its protection to nearly one million acres of wilderness at the same time.
