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.
A Lebanese businessman saw them on the pet market and felt pity for them, so he decided to buy them. He tried several times unsuccessfully to find them new homes. The man cared about Twiggs and Brighter; he feed them well and tried to keep them healthy.
In December 2002 the Nigerian government confiscated the animals. Unfortunately they were unable to provide a proper facility for the animals. Luckily the Directors of Pandrillus, Peter Jenkins and Liza Gadsby were able to convince the Nigerian Government to send the gorillas back to Cameroon. That is how Twigs ended up in Limbe Wildlife Centre. Twiggs arrived in the centre with Brighter on the 25th of May 2003.
Today Twiggs is living in our big gorilla group. She is easy to recognize, as her right arm is lame. The arm was already like that before she arrived here. The former owner told us that the arm got lame overnight when she was with him. Though Twiggs arm is not working, she is still very mobile, and easily runs around and climbs high trees.
Twiggs is low ranking in the group, but some of the other gorillas are very scared of her, as Twiggs often throws rocks at them. She can sit very quietly, and suddenly decide to throw a rock after the gorilla sitting next to her. Therefore none of the other gorillas want to sit next to her. She is a very sweet and friendly gorilla most of the time though.
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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