BABY GORILLA BORN AT HOWLETTS
July 7th saw the arrival of a new addition to the gorilla family at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent. The baby gorilla, yet to be named, was born to proud mum Dihi and joins 52 other gorillas at the park. Dihi is forming a close bond with her baby gorilla, who is less than a month old.
Neil Spooner, Animal Director at Howletts Wild Animal Park said of the new arrival: "We are delighted that Dihi has given birth to a beautiful baby gorilla, an important addition to our western lowland gorilla family. Visitors can see the baby gorilla out and about in its family enclosure with mum Dihi."
With no more than 100,000 Western lowland gorillas left in the world, there's a possibility they could be extinct by 2020 if numbers continue to decline at the present rate. This is mainly due to deforestation, the ebola virus and the bush meat trade as they continue to be widely eaten in Central Africa.
Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks play an important role in the successful breeding of captive gorillas with the two parks housing over 70 Western lowland gorillas between them, the largest collection in human care with three hand reared babies having been successfully transferred to Gabon last summer. The Aspinall Foundation continues to expand its colony at the Kent parks as well as returning captive-bred gorillas to Africa via its rescue and rehabilitation programme in the Congo and Gabon.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Howletts & Port Lympne
Howletts & Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks were set up by the late John Aspinall with the aim of protecting and breeding rare and endangered species and returning to safe areas in their native homeland. The Aspinall Foundation is the charity which manages Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, it is funded solely from charitable donations. World leaders in conservation, The Aspinall Foundation working in conjunction with the parks have so far returned to the wild Przewalski's horses, black rhino, Sumatran rhino, Cape buffalo, ocelots, pythons and gorillas. Donations to The Aspinall Foundation goes towards our vital conservation work here and abroad, including our gorilla rescue and rehabilitation projects in Africa.
The objectives of the charity are to halt the extinction of rare and endangered species and to provide the most natural environment possible for the animals; to continue to be world leaders in animal husbandry and breeding; and to be a partner and catalyst to conservation efforts at home and overseas.
The Aspinall Foundation also aims to increase public understanding of animals and their welfare and the issues involved in their conservation. The ultimate objective is to re-introduce the animals back to their wild habitat where possible.
