Virunga National Park has announced the death of the orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi. She took her final breath in the loving arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma.
Ndakasi in the arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma. Photo: Virunga National Park
Ndakasi, who had been under the care of the Park’s Senkwekwe Center for more than a decade, passed away on the evening of 26 September, following a prolonged illness in which her condition rapidly deteriorated. She was 14 years old.
Andre has been Ndakasi’s primary care giver ever since he rescued her as an infant after her mother, Nyiransekuye, was killed by armed assailants who attacked the Kabirizi gorilla family in Virunga National Park on 8 June 2007. Despite the danger posed by the attackers, a group of rangers led by Andre Bauma entered the forest to search for surviving gorillas.
They found Nyiransekuye dead, with baby Ndakasi still clinging to her breast. According to veterinary project Gorilla Doctors in nearby Goma, Ndakasi was weak and dehydrated after 24 hours of not being able to nurse. As night approached, Andre held Ndakasi close to keep her warm and tried to hydrate her by dabbing milk on her gums and tongue. Andre emerged from the forest the next day with Ndakasi, still alive, and brought her to a temporary housing facility in Goma so that the Gorilla Doctors could examine and stabilize her. Ndakasi immediately took to bottle-feeding and was content to stay with her new foster parent Andre.
