The only facility in the world caring for orphaned mountain gorillas is at Virunga National Park headquarters in Rumangabo. The veterinary organization that treats those animals publishes a list of the institutions that fund it, and four of them are zoos.
Gorilla Doctors names Columbus Zoo, Detroit Zoo, Houston Zoo, Zoos Victoria and Partners In Conservation, the conservation program of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, on its corporate and foundation supporters page, under a heading describing organizations whose generosity champions the mission year after year.
The distinction that matters
Gorilla Doctors keeps two separate lists. Its partners and collaborators page names government wildlife authorities, national parks including Virunga, NGOs and universities. Not one zoo appears there.
Its supporters page is where the zoos are. They are not operational partners in the field. They are the money.
That distinction is worth holding onto, because it is exactly how zoo conservation funding usually works and exactly what gets lost when people argue about it. The institution does not fly veterinarians to Congo. It pays for the ones who are already there.
The Senkwekwe Center
Virunga’s own description is unambiguous: located at park headquarters in Rumangabo, the Senkwekwe Center is the only facility in the world that cares for orphaned mountain gorillas. It was created in 2009 and collaborates with veterinary organizations worldwide.
The animals that have lived there arrived by the worst possible route. Ndakasi was found at two months old clinging to the body of her mother, shot by armed militia hours earlier. Mazuka arrived in 2017 aged three with her leg caught in a snare, and her left foot was amputated.
Both are gone now, Mazuka in March 2021 and Ndakasi in September 2021.
“It was a privilege to support and care for such a loving creature, especially knowing the trauma Ndakasi suffered at a very young age. I am proud to have called Ndakasi my friend.”
Andre Bauma, chief caretaker, Senkwekwe Center
We could not verify the center’s current resident count from any Virunga or Gorilla Doctors source, and we are not going to estimate one. The documented residents in 2021 were Mazuka, Ndeze, Ndakasi and Matabishi. Virunga still runs an adoption page for Matabishi.
Why the funding chain is the story
Virunga’s own funder line on every gorilla story credits the European Union and UNESCO. The park has no partners or supporters page and names no zoo anywhere on its site.
Take that at face value and you would conclude that zoos have nothing to do with mountain gorillas in Congo. Follow the veterinary care instead and four accredited institutions appear immediately, paying for the people who treat snare injuries, respiratory infections and the orphans nobody else will take.
The gorillas those doctors look after include the twins that just became the first in the park’s history to reach six months.
Sources: Gorilla Doctors; Virunga National Park.
