It’s been hard to get to know Ntibahanana because Gashangi is extremely shy and fearful of any humans and, for a long time, wouldn’t let us get anywhere her precious charge.

In August 2007 we noticed that Ntibahanana was sick, and we thought it was because of a lack of breast milk because Gashangi had had another child, Kazi, in May 2007.

One of the Gorilla Doctors went to see Ntibahanana and noticed that the animal had lost a lot of hair and that a good deal of the hair that remained was discoloured. It was shortly after his visit that rebels took over the gorilla sector and so a veterinary intervention was impossible. The Rangers feared the worst but when they resumed patrolling they discovered that Gashangi had made what tuned out to be a temporary move to the Humba Family and, more importantly, that Ntibahanana had made a full recovery.