South Africa Travel: Gorillas Fly Too

December 6, 2007 2:03 pm Matty Environment, In the News, Issues, Travel

South Africa Travel: Taiping Four Return to Cameroon
Gorillas Photo by Eric Jager
So it seems that after several years of life in the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa in Pretoria, the four gorillas have finally been returned to their original home in Cameroon, courtesy of Kenya Airways.

According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, “around six years ago, four infant Western Lowland gorillas were violently removed from their families and forest home in Cameroon and transported half-way around the world.” Eventually, after stopping over in Malaysia, their travels eventually landed them in South Africa.

Travel to and From South Africa: Gorillas Safely Arrive

Originally smuggled out of Cameroon in 2002, the four have remained in Pretoria from 2004 until now. The Taiping four are more commonly known to their handlers as Abbey, Tinu, Oyin and Izan. The dangers and damages on a variety of levels to countries and ecosystems alike, due to illegal animal smuggling, are well-known to many. In all, the four gorillas ended up traveling around 2600 miles from Pretoria, South Africa, arriving at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon, where they will remain.

Read more coverage by Suzanne Williams at GloballyGreenLiving.com

Read even more coverage at IFAW’s Animal Rescue Blog.