Gorilla Family Flown Back to Africa with Aspinall Foundation

Nine critically endangered western lowland gorillas have been flown back to Gabon in Africa through the Aspinall Foundation, and their partners DHL. These amazing animals were flown from the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent all the way to The Batéké Plateau National Park, the charities flagship African conservation project.

The gorilla family is led by a 30 year old silverback named Djala, who weighs a whopping 200kg, making him one of the largest in captivity. He was rescued in the 80’s from Africa, and since his early days has now fathered 15 children. The rest of the gorilla party are made up of four females and four children, who will be take the 6,000 mile journey from Kent, all the way to the wilds of Africa. This will be the first time Djala has seen the forests of his birth since his family were slaughtered nearly 30 years ago.

Damian Aspinall, Chairman of The Aspinall Foundation, said –

This is the first time that a reintroduction of this magnitude has ever been attempted. Although we are experience at reintroducing animals back into the wild – a reintroduction of this size is something not to be taken lightly, and this has been years in the planning.

Djala was actually rescued when he was a baby by a passing helicopter pilot, who saw that the animal was being taunted by local children who had been given the animal as a plaything. I’d like to see them try that now! The Aspinall Foundation has been reintroducing animal back into their natural habitat for a number of years, and have already rehoused three gorilla families since 1999. DHL have created sa pecially equipped Boeing 767 airplane to help transport these beautiful creatures back to their natural habitat.

CEO of DHL Express UK & Ireland, Phil Couchman, said –

It’s no mean feat moving a family of nine gorillas across the world. This is an extremely important cause and a great logistical undertaking for DHL – our priority throughout the operation has been the safety and wellbeing of the animals. In working closely with The Aspinall Foundation to prepare for the move we ensured the smoothest possible journey for the gorillas. Our dedicated “special delivery” team, which includes staff from across DHL’s operation, from aircraft engineers to cargo handlers, security teams, pilots and drivers, have done an excellent job of ensuring the success of this project. We’re delighted to have been of assistance to the gorilla family and we hope they enjoy their new home.

If you would like to provide funds for the Aspinall Foundation to help the western lowland gorilla, why not adopt one through our dedicated charity page? Donations start from just £3.50 a month, and will go a long way to helping gorillas like Djala to be reintroduced into their natural habitat.