In 2007, DRC part of Virunga National Park witnessed the terrible tragedy: the gorilla group of Silverback Senkwekwe had been attacked and most of its members murdered. With her father and mother still warm Ndeze, only few months old, was found still alive. She was taken to the temporary orphan facility in Goma.

There she lived with another orphan of the massacre, Ndakasi. Of the two orphans Ndeze was always stronger and more boisterous. Within few days she became attached to her new family of keepers and simply loved her milk bottle!

Quickly she developed the game of biting and it was always a mission for the Gorilla Doctors to check on her health:  excited and playful she never missed a chance to leave her teeth marks on us. And her main focus was always surgical masks and rubber gloves we wore. We had to make sure we always had a replacement in our pockets!

Ndeze proved to be the easy patient:  she never developed any serious disease and easily accepted medication for her common infant disorders like a sore throat or mild diarrhea.

She always loved being tickled, and so we used this knowledge to make her vaccinations a part of a tickle-game. After quickly injecting vaccine in her back with the tiny needle we would tickle the place straight away, and instead of a cry we received the smiling face and a sweet grunting laugh of a baby gorilla. And laugh she could!

The only health problem Ndeze had was the dry, brittle hair, which most likely was the response to the hot, dusty climate of Goma, so different than the cool, always moist air in the forest.  Since she’s been moved to Rumangabo, we hope this problem will disappear.