Gorilla born in captivity fathers infants within the wild in world first

If Ima the gorilla has seemed a little smug of late, perhaps it is not surprising. In a remarkable world first, he is the only zoo-born male gorilla ever to move to the jungle and father a baby with a wild-born female. In fact, he has done so twice – with different mothers.

Ima was born at conservationist Damian Aspinall’s animal park in Kent but was relocated to Gabon, West Africa, in 2003, aged 18 months, to begin a new life.

After a year of gradual acclimatisation, the Western lowland gorilla – a critically endangered species – was released into the wild, where he roamed the tropical rainforests of Bateke Plateau National Park close to the border with the Republic of the Congo.

In 2021, Ima was first seen with two wild-born females – he had infiltrated another gorilla troop, or family, and stolen the Silverback’s two daughters, Amvemande and Okeili, with whom he now lives in a little troop of his own.

To the delight of conservationists, both have recently given birth. One, the baby born to Okeili, can be identified by its unusual white fingertips, a quirk of pigmentation. 

Mr Aspinall said: ‘It’s taken this long to discover the births because males like Ima tend to keep new mothers and their offspring away from other gorillas or humans to protect them while the newborns are still vulnerable.

‘This is a big event for me as I raised Ima and escorted him to Gabon. This is the first time a zoo-born gorilla has fathered a baby with a wild-born female.

‘It is doubly impressive that he has done this twice with two females. This is a huge milestone and we’re very proud. The conservation benefits are well documented – re-establishing a viable population of gorillas in a landscape where they had been locally extirpated and the restoration of the wildlife and ecological balance of the area.

‘It brings me such joy to know that Ima and his descendants can have a life in the wild, rather than languishing in a zoo.’

Ima, the two mothers and their unnamed babies were captured by a camera trap last month, though scientists are yet to determine the infants’ sex or exact age – they are believed to be around a year old – because they can’t get close enough to study them.

The Aspinall Foundation has been reintroducing gorillas in Congo and Gabon for more than 30 years. In 2021, two zoo-born gorillas that the organisation relocated from Europe to Gabon together became the first zoo-born gorillas to have a baby in the wild.

A female gorilla’s choice of partner is related to the male’s perceived ability to protect them and their infants. 

Zoo-born males are often less comfortable in a forest environment than wild-born males and are therefore less appealing. 

That hand-reared Ima was able to attract and impregnate not one but two females makes his achievement all the more remarkable.

It marks an extraordinary milestone for the 25st gorilla who was introduced to a group of wild orphans in Gabon at a young age to learn forest skills. 

Ima was protected against bullying by his human carers and was gradually encouraged to fend for himself.

Over time, he adapted to different food and weather and learned the skills he needed to survive before being fully released. 

Created in 2002, Bateke is managed by Agence Nationale Des Parcs Nationaux Du Gabon (ANPN), Gabon’s national park agency. 

‘This is fantastic news,’ said ANPN conservationist Hermann Yobo Nzengue. ‘We will monitor this new group of gorillas very closely.’

Claire Willaume, country director for The Aspinall Foundation in Gabon, said: ‘We are delighted with this happy news. 

Ima is such a steady male and has overcome the inherent disadvantages of being born in the UK to win two females and start a new group of his own. 

His parents were orphans themselves, so for him to thrive in their ancestral forests is wonderful, especially now that his offspring will be part of the story.’

Reintroducing animals to the wild is a vital tool for conservationists to ‘turn back the clock’ and undo the harm caused by humans to wildlife populations and nature, restoring ecological balance, enhancing the ability of ecosystems to help mitigate climate change, and preventing endangered species from becoming extinct. 

As ‘ecosystem engineers’, gorillas play an essential role in maintaining the biodiversity in their forest habitats, spreading seeds and creating clearances for new plants to grow, which benefits many other creatures.

‘Western lowland gorillas [like Ima] are critically endangered, but there are still an estimated 250,000 or more individuals living across their natural range, so this alone won’t save the species,’ said Mr Aspinall. 

‘Perhaps the only valid conservation goal zoos have is to successfully fine-tune the science of reintroduction in case there is a need in the future.’

The Aspinall Foundation has worked on other projects to release zoo-born and rescued animals, including eight black rhino, four cheetahs, more than 210 langurs and gibbons, 12 European bison, one brown hyena, one honey badger, 20 mandrill and 11 Przewalski horses in protected areas in countries such as South Africa, Tanzania, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia and Romania.

The organisation also plans to fly a herd of 13 elephants, including three calves, together weighing more than 25 tons, on two Boeing 777 cargo aircraft 4,500 miles across the globe from Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent to live in the wild in Africa.

Transporting zoo-born animals vast distances and sending them out into new wild lives does have critics, given the risks of animal fatalities on the journey or while adapting to new environments, as well as the high financial cost.

But Mr Aspinall believes the births of two new gorillas strengthens the case for this work. He said: ‘Reintroduction is recognised as a valuable conservation tool by nearly all serious conservation scientists, but it wasn’t always so. 

‘When we began this project in the late 1980s, we were derided by many wildlife conservation organisations who said it was a waste of money.

‘Many zoos still think reintroduction is a waste of time and animals should be kept in captivity just to “educate” people. This is a morally bankrupt argument in the age of the internet where anyone can find out about wildlife biology and behaviour.

‘Zoos should be spearheading reintroductions and championing their ground-breaking benefits, such as habitat restoration.’