PRESS RELEASE
Rescued by Gorilla Doctors and Congolese wildlife authorities (ICCN) from the illegal wildlife trade at 18 months old and raised at GRACE sanctuary, Lulingu is now caring for an infant after mating with a wild silverback in the DRC
Lulingu, a rewilded Grauer’s gorilla gives birth, Mt. Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park, DR Congo. Photo: © GRACE
One of the first-ever eastern lowland gorillas to be successfully returned to the wild gave birth May 21 in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), marking a major milestone for an ambitious effort to reinforce a small and isolated population of the critically endangered primate.
The mother, Lulingu, was one of four female gorillas moved at the end of 2024 from the GRACE sanctuary in Kasugho to Virunga’s Mt. Tshiaberimu. Her baby was fathered by Mwasa, a wild Grauer’s gorilla living on the mountain, a sign that Lulingu had successfully integrated into the wild population. The release of the four females, all of whom have joined Mwasa’s family group, was the culmination of a more than five-year rewilding process led by GRACE, Virunga National Park, Gorilla Doctors, and local communities, with support from Re:wild.
READ + WATCH the full health history of the four rewilded females.
Top: Lulingu and Mpendo; Bottom: Isangi and Ndjingala.
Since the four females were released, Gorilla Doctors’ Dr. Cedric, stationed at Mt. Tshiaberimu, has been monitoring the health of all the critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas living in two groups: Kipura and Katsabara.
“None of the four females have required veterinary treatment for illness or injury since being rewilded–the outcome we always hope for,” said Dr. Cedric Kibengo, a field veterinarian with Gorilla Doctors who has monitored the health of all the eastern lowland gorillas at Mt. Tshiaberimu since 2024. “With the arrival of Lulingu’s infant, we now have one more ‘patient’ under our care, and both mother and infant are healthy and doing well.”
Lulingu with her infant on August 6. © Gorilla Doctors
WATCH the announcement on Good Morning America.
READ the full press release issued by GRACE.
READ GRACE’s recent blog on all the latest updates of the Grauer’s gorillas in Mt. Tshiaberimu.
