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.
Unfortunately the wildlife officials did not know much about feeding gorilla-babies, so they fed him beers and only a little amount of food. When he came to LWC Chella was dehydrated and malnourished. It took a lot of effort from the staff before he slowly improved.
DToday Chella is a fully grown silverback. He is 15 years old and weighed 175 kg. He is the dominant male in the group and this year he became father for the first time to little Atinbi. Being a dad has changed his behavior. Before he could be pretty aggressive towards the females, but now he is much calmer.
Though Chella is a very big gorilla, he is not the bravest gorilla in the world. He doesn't like new things and easily get scared if something unexpected happens. A while ago a pig ran into the centre. Chella got very scared, and while all the female gorillas were screaming and trying to chase the pig away, he ran to the other side of the enclosure, trying to hide. The next week it was very difficult to get him out of his satellite cage.
Chella doesn't like competition. At the moment we are building a new monkey enclosure next to the gorilla enclosure. The construction workers are big men with big muscles, and Chella hates them. He spends a long time everyday wandering back and forth the area where the construction is going on. His lips are pursed and often he beats his chest to show that he is the boss!
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.
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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