Ndakasi, Viral Selfie-Loving Mountain Gorilla Dies In The Arms Of Her Caretaker At 14
Ndakasi was only two months old when she met Andre Bauma. When they found her “clinging to the lifeless body of her mother, gunned down by armed militia hours earlier.” And more than a decade later, 14-year-old Ndakasi has sadly died holding onto Mr. Bauma.
When Ndakasi was found that day with her de@d mother, she had no relatives present. No gorillas can be found around the area. So the rangers deemed it too dangerous to leave her all alone. They decided to take her to a rescue center. This is where she met Mr. Bauma.
The park wrote: “All night long, Andre held the baby close to him.”
Since then, the k!llings of other mountain gorillas like Ndakasi’s family have led to extensive security upgrades throughout the park.
Her story went viral online. But this is not the first time that has seen Ndakasi in the news headlines.
In 2019, Ndakasi and another female mountain gorilla named ‘Ndeze’ photobombed a selfie that was taken by a ranger at the Virunga National Park in Congo.
As soon as the photo was shared on Instagram, it also went viral!
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In the picture was a park ranger, Mathieu Shamavu, who was in a T-shirt and posing for a selfie. Then in the back were the two gorillas posing with him. One gorilla looks over her left shoulder, chin down, with that casual look on her face as she peered toward the camera. The other gorilla is leaning forward and looks like it was trying its best to be in the shot. She has a hint of a smile at the edge of her mouth. And there is another ranger behind them with hands behind his back and looking at the camera. When the photo was posted online, the park said in the caption: “YES, it’s real!” The photo quickly caught the attention of the internet. People can’t help but notice and be amazed at Ndakasi. In 2009, a center that focused on the care of orphaned mountain gorillas was created inside the park. Mr. Bauma became the manager. Then in 2014, he and the gorillas were featured in a documentary called “Virunga.” Through the years, Mr. Bauma and Ndakasi had grown close to each other. They formed a special bond that Mr. Bauma never thought would be possible. In an interview back in 2014, Mr. Bauma said, “I played with her, I fed her. I can say I am her mother.” Then recently, the sad news was shared by the park. Ndakasi had died on September 26th. Ndakasi had suffered “a prolonged illness in which her condition rapidly deteriorated.” Mr. Bauma said that getting to know Ndakasi had “helped me to understand the connection between humans and great apes and why we should do everything in our power to protect them.” He added, “I loved her like a child,” he added, “and her cheerful personality brought a smile to my face every time I interacted with her.” The mountain gorillas live mainly in forests, commonly in national parks in Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. However, their numbers are slowly going down not only because of climate change, but also people there are people who set traps to kill them. In fact, human encroachment and poachers with guns are just among the gorillas’ biggest challenges to survival.
