Friends reunited: Orphaned gorilla and man who reared her... before heartbreaking end to their story
WHAT a strange, sad but ultimately serendipitous journey this young orphaned gorilla’s life had already been when she found herself in the back of one of her rescuers’ cars.
Poachers in the thick African forest where Pikin and her troop lived in Cameroon had slaughtered her parents for meat.
Despite their status as an endangered species, the gorilla’s meat is considered a delicacy by those unscrupulous enough to pay for it and fuel the illegal trade.
Youngsters such as Pikin don’t have much flesh so are often left to die in the forest or taken back to the cities to be sold as pets.
Thankfully, she was plucked to safety by Ape Action Africa, a nonprofit conservation organisation, and taken to one of its sanctuaries. Having outgrown her enclosure, she needed to be transported to a bigger one and so was sedated before being gently lifted into a car for the trip there.
But before arrival, she unexpectedly awoke – and found herself sharing the back seat with Appolinaire Ndohoudou, one of the group’s volunteers who had helped to hand-rear her.
Perfectly at ease in his company and soothed by his presence on the bumpy ride, she fondly embraced him as she sat on his lap.
The remarkable display of gentleness shared between the primate and her human protector was captured in this heartwarming picture by Jo-Anne McArthur, 41, a Canadian photojournalist. The image yesterday won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award, beating nearly 50,000 others.
‘Pikin, who was six when I took this photo, is among the very lucky few who are rescued from the bushmeat and pet trades and brought to safety,’ Miss McArthur said in a blog shared on the website of the Natural History Museum in London, where the picture is on display as part of an exhibition until May 28.
‘An unfortunate side- effect of these rescues is that the babies must be reared by humans, meaning they become habituated and cannot be reintroduced into the wild. To reintroduce them would be to return them to the very dan- ger from which they were rescued. For now, primate sanctuaries such as Ape Action Africa are the best that humans can offer them.’
Like Pikin, her human carer Appolinaire had also been forced from his home, having fled Chad as a student aged 24 because of civil war. After working as a security guard at a primate sanctuary in Cameroon, he became a volunteer for Ape Action Africa and learned how to look after the orphans.
‘They are my children,’ he said, adding that Pikin had loved him like a father and would grow jealous and shout if the other lowland gorillas tried to give him hugs.
Lowland gorillas, which can weigh up to 400lb as adults and stand at 6ft, are usually not aggressive – unless disturbed. So it was an anxious moment when Pikin awoke in the car. Miss McArthur said: ‘I sat in the front passenger seat excitedly taking photos when to my horror Pikin awoke from the sedation. I think it goes without saying that one should never get in a car with an alert gorilla.
‘Though at first Pikin seemed a bit startled, she was drowsy and felt safe in the arms of her friend and caretaker Appolinaire.’
Sadly, Pikin’s life was destined not to be a long one. While living at the sanctuary she fell from a tree and was so badly injured that she could not be saved.
But Miss McArthur hopes her picture of Pikin during her rescue will inspire people to care more about animals. ‘I regularly document the cruelties animals endure at our hands, but sometimes I bear witness to stories of rescue, hope and redemption,’ she said.
‘Such is the case with the story of Pikin and Appolinaire – a beautiful moment between friends.’
‘Among the very lucky few’