For more information about WCS’s work in Congo, visit: Follow: recently launched a Gorilla Survival Challenge to put 2x the resources to protect gorillas from poaching and save their forest homes from destruction. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Foundation for the Sangha Trinational Trust Fund. This work is made possible with major support from the U.S Agency for International Development’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), the U.S. Operating under the Nouabale-Ndoki Foundation, Nouabale-Ndoki’s research and monitoring unit works to build understanding of the landscape’s rich wildlife, in support of more effective protection and management. It is this specific knowledge about individuals and their relationships to others is what makes the gorilla viewing experience in Nouabale Ndoki so special and make you feel like you are sitting with family. WCS’s researchers are not the only ones lucky enough to enjoy Kingo and his family the habituation initiative has successfully brought world class gorilla tourism to the Park, and to Congo as a whole. We laugh when they play, we cry over their deaths, we hold our breath when one is i njured, and we fight to protect them.” But to the researchers and trackers who spend their years with him, Kingo is family. Said Ivonne Kienast, WCS Site and Research Manager of the Mondika Gorilla Project: “Kingo can be seen just as a wild animal, a great ape, a species fighting extinction, one amongst thousands. And he follows his females reluctantly into the swamps and washes the plants before feeding on them, with the young ones imitating him. He is a caring father he often stops the older ones when they play too roughly with the infants. Researchers say he likes to sit and caress his right hand with his left thumb while looking into the distance. Through it all, Kingo has remained a calm silverback. The rest of his remaining offspring are still with him. Only one of Kingo’s daughters has so far survived to emigrate to a new group. Unfortunately, the chances for young gorillas surviving in the wild to adulthood are often low, as gorillas face many threats to survival including leopard attacks and disease as well as poaching. WCS researchers report his most recent offspring born earlier this year, may have been taken by a predator. Fourteen of his 20 offspring have died most were under the age of three. In the last two years, four females have left him, leaving their weaned infants behind for Kingo to protect. He once abducted the daughter from another group who continues to remain with him. Since WCS researchers began following him, they have chronicled his dramatic life story: he’s had 10 mates only one has remained with him. “Kingo Ya Bole,” which means “The Loud Voice” was chosen to be habituated by researchers interested in learning more about the behavior and ecology of Western lowland gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla). WCS’s long-term presence in the park, coupled with its science-based approach, has allowed researchers to gain incredible insights into the life history into the otherwise private lives of gorillas. It is home not only to gorillas, but also forest elephants, bongo, sitatunga and other spectacular wildlife.
WCS Congo Program researchers wrote a touching tribute to Kingo, whom they have studied for the past 17 years in Nouabale-Ndoki National Park – a 1,500 square-mile (4,238 square-kilometer) protected area WCS co-manages with the Congolese government. Meet Kingo, a wild silverback gorilla who is celebrating his 40 th birthday. He likes to nap with his feet in the air, and he hums while he eats.
He’s a fierce defender of his family and helped nurse two of his offspring back from leopard attacks. He’s a father of 20 from nine different mothers.
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