Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla who went viral for posing for a selfie in 2019
in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo has now died at the age
of 14.
Virunga National Park said Ndakasi died last month after a prolonged
illness.
"It is with deep sadness that Virunga announces the death of his
beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi, who has been under the care of
Senkwekwe Center Park for more than a decade," the park said, adding he
took his last breath in the arms of his caregiver, Andre Bauma.
"I love him like a child and his cheerful personality brings a smile
to my face every time I interact with him," Bauma said.
"He will be missed by all of us at Virunga but we are forever grateful
for the wealth Ndakasi brought into our lives during his time at
Senkwekwe," he continued.
Ndaksi was just two months old when Virunga's guards found him in 2007
clinging to the body of his mother, who had been shot dead hours earlier by
armed militia, according to the park. They took him in and transferred him to a
rescue center in Goma, where he first met Bauma. He held the baby Ndakasi
against his chest all night long forming a bond between the two of them.
Goodbye Ndakis…
