On 26 November 2018, the Mayani gorilla gave birth to a small Thandie in the Valley of the Great Apes at the ZOO in Antwerp. Today, Thandie is celebrating her first birthday and has wonderful news to announce: Aunt Mambele is pregnant and expecting a baby for the summer of 2020.
This will be the second birth that will live in the Valley of the Great Apes.
A great success for the breeding program of this great threatened monkey, to which the Antwerp ZOO is actively involved.

The father of this offspring is, this time too, the silver back Matadi.
Mayani, Mambele, Thandie and Matadi are all gorillas of the western plains.
Amahoro, the eldest, is an eastern lowland gorilla who completes the Antwerp ZOO group.
The western lowland gorilla is very threatened.
There are only 90,000 individuals left in the wild.
A descent is therefore very important and widely desired.

Happy birthday Thandie

The adorable Thandie is already no longer a baby and has already taken some important steps.
Let's remember his first steps and his first teeth, the discovery of his nature and his first autumn walk.
She offered us beautiful shots throughout the year.
Her healers made a birthday cake that Thandie will receive today at 1:30 pm.
We are impatient to see his reactions.
Do not miss a look at the photos published on www.zooanvers.be

Research in Cameroon

In Cameroon, the Antwerp ZOO Center for Research and Conservation, the ZOO scientific institute in Antwerp and ZOO Planckendael, has for 17 years already had its own field research station.
In this Great Apes project, ZOO scientists are studying the influence of deforestation, illegal hunting and agriculture on biodiversity, and in particular on the chances of survival of chimpanzees and gorillas.
The team investigates and protects the monkeys, but also helps locals to invest in alternative income (planting cocoa plantations) and alternative feeding sources (fishponds) so that they are no longer dependent on hunting for food. bush meat.