News and Events

TAIPING FOUR GORILLA BECOMES SURROGATE MOTHER

A female gorilla that spent the last six years at the center of an international controversy regarding illegal trade has found happiness by adopting an infant gorilla at a sanctuary in Cameroon.

 Abbey, who was one of the infamous Taiping Four gorillas that were illegally shipped from Africa to Asia in 2002, recently became the surrogate mother to Bolo, a one-year old orphan, at the Limbe Wildlife Center in Cameroon.

 Bolo arrived after being confiscated from poachers in December, and it was feared she might be too young to ever integrate safely into Limbe’s 14-member gorilla social group. But another adult female, Brighter, showed interest and seemed willing to take on the role of caring for Bolo.

 Abbey had other ideas, however.

 “Very surprisingly, Abbey, who is not a dominant female, went up to Brighter and gently took Bolo off her and placed her on her chest,” said Felix Lankester, manager of the Limbe Wildlife Center. “What was surprising was that Brighter didn’t try to take Bolo back. It was obvious to everyone that Abbey was much more protective than Brighter ever was, and that was the kind of protection we were looking for.”

 The Limbe staff had spent months patiently developing the relationship between Brighter and Bolo, and even separated the pair temporarily from the other gorillas in order to foster the bonds of care. But Abbey’s willingness to take responsibility for Bolo proved irresistible.

 Although the gorillas at Limbe are placed on contraceptives in order to restrict breeding, the introduction of Bolo (pictured above with Abbey and another of the Taiping Four, Tinu) has spurred the group to begin behaving more as they would in the wild. The males have assumed roles of dominance and leadership, while the female serve as surrogate aunts, and play with Bolo whenever they get the chance.

 “This gives Abbey and the other females a chance to experience aspects of motherhood, which is a really important thing for gorillas,” Lankester said. “When they haven’t got that, they get bored and might display unnatural behavior. Having Bolo in the group is a very calming influence.”

 The Taiping Four gorillas were captured illegally from the wild in 2001 and shipped to the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia under forged travel permits. After the deal was uncovered, the Malaysian government sent the gorillas to the Pretoria Zoo in South Africa in 2004, but it took another three years of intense international pressure before they were returned to their native Cameroon.

 The Taiping Four gorillas reached Limbe on November 30, 2007.

 Limbe is a charter member of PASA, which was formed in 2000 to unite the sanctuaries that care for chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, drills and literally thousands of other endangered primates across Africa. For more information, please visit www.pasaprimates.org or contact PASAapes@aol.com.