THE ORPHANAGE FOR GORILLAS

(and great primates)

Evaro Lodge Ornithological circuits

The orphanages are create for:

- To help the authorities which seize the “large monkeys” in their proposer of the reception facilities for the young orphans. The existence of these reception facilities encourages the authorities to apply the laws and the sanctions. If no structure nor no means exists, the agents of National Forestry Commission know that the seized gorillas are condemned to die in the more or less short term and thus hesitate to seize them.

- To try to offer to these “cousins” a worthy existence, in freedom or semi-freedom, nearest to that which they would have lived in their medium of origin.

- To be used as tool for programs of environmental education and to contribute to the formation on the conservation.

The Gabonese government clearly posts its will to act for the protection of the large monkeys.

Gabon is one of the rare countries of Africa which lodge populations of gorillas and in particular the species of plain of the west (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) presents only in some countries of central Africa. The gorillas are a species headlight as well as regards conservation as a tourist emblem. Gorillas of plain of the west, as all the subspecies of gorillas are completely protected by the laws national and international but they are however victims of the poaching. If they are not always the specific target of the hunters, they are killed at sight at the time of a meeting unexpected or taken in the trap.

The gorillas are with the chimpanzees the most intelligent animals, after the human ones. In natural environment, they show behaviors sophisticated to find their food and the search for this one requires very sophisticated cognitive faculties (for example: mental charts spaces/time and a good memory) and a perfect knowledge of their medium. Whereas certain forms of the behavior are innate, the majority are acquired during a long period of training: the young gorillas remain close to their mothers until adolescence (9 - 10 years). Some of the captive gorillas were born in their natural environment, and were captured very young people, the majority between 6 months and 3 years, and almost with each capture the mother was killed. So in supplement of the serious traumatism of the capture, more or less important according to the age, these individuals were private long maternal training, necessary to their survival in natural environment. This educational deficiency was a major obstacle with the programmes of “reintroduction” of the gorillas because, in the field of ethics, it is cavity unacceptable to slacken individuals by knowing that they are likely to die slowly of hunger.