The lovely mountain gorilla Ndakasi died in the arms of her rescuer and carer Andre Bauma, after becoming viral for photobombing a park ranger’s picture. The internet is inconsolably weeping and lamenting the tragic loss.
A mountain gorilla that went viral after photobombing a park ranger’s picture, died in the arms of her rescuer and carer, Andre Bauma, on September 26. She had been a patient at Park’s Senkwekwe Centre for more than a decade when she died after a lengthy illness. Virunga National Park, a non-profit organisation committed to the rehabilitation of orphaned gorillas, broke the terrible news.
Virunga’s photo went popular when he posted it on social media. It showed Ndakasi safe and well in the arms of her long-time pal Andre. The image is sad and depicts the unbreakable link that exists between the animal and the person.
Andre rescued Ndakasi when she and her fellow gorilla Ndeze were sadly orphaned. After its establishment in 2009, both of them were relocated to Senkwekwe Centre, where she lived quietly for 11 years. After a photo of her with a park warden and Ndeze was shared on social media in 2019, she became known as the ‘Selfie Gorilla.’ Both gorillas are seen cheekily photobombing the ranger’s selfie in the photo.
After seeing the images, internet users were brought to tears and lamented the loss of the cute gorilla. “She will be sorely missed,” one user said. “Rest in peace, lovely buddy,” remarked another user.
“It was an honour to be able to help and care for such a wonderful creature… Andre stated, “It was Ndakasi’s lovely demeanour and intelligence that made me realise the relationship between people and Great Apes, and why we should do everything we can to conserve them.”
