Gorillas to be re-homed on ‘island bachelor pad’.

5 male gorillas whose efforts to find a female has drawn them to stray into villages in the Congo will be moved to their own specially designed island.

The 5 gorillas were all orphaned by the bush meat trade before being sold into the illegal pet market. After being confiscated from vendors they were cared for by The John Aspinall Foundation (TJAF) which has wide experience in caring for young orphaned gorillas.

TJAF manages nearly 1,000,000 acres of habitat in Congo and Gabon, and the animals it rescues are gradually prepared for release into one of the foundation’s protected reserves.

4 of the gorillas were released into TJAF’s Lefini Reserve in 1996, with the 5th released there in 2003. Lefini reserve is currently home to nineteen gorillas and recently 2 distinct family groups have formed.

Both these groups are led by dominant male silverbacks who will fight off young rival males so that the 5 bachelor males were pushed out.

Subsequently the 5 lone males were forced to range further afield to look for females, a search that led them into human habitations where they helped themselves to villagers’ crops.

Amos Courage, TJAF’s Overseas Project Director, said: ‘Most of the orphan gorillas that have come to us in recent years have been male. It is unfortunate that there just aren’t enough females to keep everyone happy.’

‘Young males can walk for miles in their search for a female, and since the reserve’s wild gorilla population was wiped out through hunting in the 1950s the 5 were forced to look outside of the reserve.’

The TJAF Africa team caught the stray gorillas and thought of a novel solution by creating an island habitat for them, to prevent them straying in the future.

Work has started to convert a sixty acre area of the reserve surrounded by rivers into a dedicated bachelor island for the animals.

Mr Courage said: ‘The animals’ wellbeing is fundamental to our work. By giving these 5 their own island we can avoid future conflicts between gorillas and villagers. At 60 acres the site is large enough for the males to each have their own space and avoid fighting.

‘With TJAF’s continued work in the field of orphan rescue and ongoing captive breeding, hopefully it won’t be long before we find some girlfriends for these chaps.’

For further information on the work of the John Aspinall Foundation, Click here.