Orphaned gorillas could return to wild

The Guardian reports on the plans to release two orphaned young gorillas back into the wild.

Ndeze and Ndakasi (picture left) were orphaned after their parents were killed during the 2007 massacres in Congo's Virunga National Park that left 10 gorillas dead.

Negotiations are under way to bring two adult gorillas from Rwanda to become their adoptive parents, with a view to returning the babies to the wild.

The return of the gorillas from Rwanda depends on the completion of the Senkwekwe Centre, a specially designed sanctuary for Ndeze and Ndakasi in a lush forest habitat in Virunga park. The pair, each two and a half years old, moved there last December from a makeshift shelter in the city of Goma.

Besides the threat of poaching, the gorillas habitat is being slowly cut down as people seeking wood for fuel encroach more and more into the forests.

Read the full story: New hope for mountain gorillas

Photo from Virunga National Park