Our youngest gorilla is called Atinbi. She was born here on the 3rd of March 2009.
The Limbe Wildlife Centre does not want to breed with gorilla's and as a result the females are on contraceptives. But Atinbi's mother, called Akiba, was very sick last year and could hardly eat. Therefore we took her out of the group and off the pills. When she recovered, she went back in the group and back on the contraceptives. Nevertheless, 8 1/2 months later Atinbi was born.
The first days Atinbi did not drink from her mother's breast, so after 3 days we had to sedate Akibato let the baby drink while the mother was sleeping. It went well and when Akiba woke up Atinbi continued drinking from her mother.
Atinbi is now 4 months old. She is still dependent on her mother, and she hangs on hermothers belly most of the time, but she is starting to get more confident. To start with, Akiba always had to support her with an arm, when they were moving around, but now Atinbi is strong enough to hang by herself. Akiba doesn't seem bothered to have a baby hanging on her stomach. She still enjoys climbing the trees and moves around a lot.
It is very interesting to follow the development of a baby gorilla. Our gorilla keepers note down all her developments. Each day it seems like she is growing and getting stronger. When she was 2 months old her teeth started growing and she now has 4-5 teeth. Last week Akiba was sitting with Atinbi on her lap, and Atinbi crawled away from her mother and took her first step on the ground, before Akiba gently pulled her back to her. The other gorillas are very interested in Atinbi, and Akiba is often surrounded by a group of gorillas that want to be near the baby.
16.11.2009 Twiggs was born in the wild in Cameroon around the year 1997. She and another female gorilla, Brighter, was smuggled across the border to Nigeria as infants to be sold as pets on the locale pet marked.
09.11.2009 When Pitchou was very small, she was brought to Hotel Ilomba in Kribi to be sold, after her mother had been killed by hunters. She stayed there for three days, until the hotel owners could no longer bare to watch her suffer. The family donated her to the LWC.
02.11.2009 Chella came to Limbe Wildlife Centre when he was only two years old. He was found in the back of a bush-taxi sitting on his dead mother. Wildlife officials confiscated him and kept him three weeks before bringing him to the Wildlife Centre.
21.09.2009 Adjibolo came to Limbe Wildlife Centre when she was only about 6 months old. She was confiscated by senior civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Adjibolo, from a hunter who tried to sell her.
14.09.2009 Jumbo is one of the funniest gorillas that live in the Limbe Wildlife Centre. She loves to get attention and therefore she has developed a special dance to attract visitors. When she sees somebody new she starts with her special dance. It is always entertaining for the visitors but also for the other...
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