On Oct. 10, 2021, gorilla Ndume turned 40 and we created the above tribute video to help everyone remember how much we love him, and help us by sending their birthday wishes to him at the Cincinnati Zoo, where he now resides. We are happy to report that recently he is forming close bonds with females Chewie and Mara in his family group at the Cincinnati Zoo. For us, this is a big bright spot in the many changes he faced by being moved from The Gorilla Foundation sanctuary to a zoo.
He has been deemed to be in good health by the team there which is great news to all of us who cared for him for close to 30 years.
We know he is well-loved by his caregivers at the Cincinnati Zoo, and we miss seeing, interacting and communicating with him daily.
We wish there could have been a way to create a natural family group for him here at the sanctuary with his human friends, familiar surroundings and greater autonomy too, but that proved impossible to arrange. He continues to receive excellent care, and we get to visit him twice per year to let him know we love and remember him.
Please send Ndume some birthday love!
