Beloved Gorilla Ndakasi Dies in the Arms of Caretaker After Long Illness at Age 14
Ndakasi, a much-loved mountain gorilla who captured hearts by posing for selfies with rangers, has died after a long illness at Africa’s oldest national park, Virunga. The 14-year-old animal passed away in the arms of ranger Andre Bauma at a gorilla orphanage in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ndakasi was rescued at the age of two months in 2007 when poachers killed her mother, and rangers raised her at the orphanage as she had no family to return to. She became a viral sensation in 2019 when another ranger snapped a selfie with her and another female gorilla, Ndeze.
Mountain gorillas are critically endangered, and their populations are under threat from habitat loss and poaching. Ndakasi’s death is a tragic loss for conservationists and the rangers who cared for her.
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