Valencia Bioparc, Spain, 17th August

A gorilla celebrated its 5th anniversary inside Valencia Bioparc with its large family.

Virunga celebrated her 5th birthday surrounded by her family- father Mambie, mother Ali, brothers Ebo and Felix, and Fossey with her baby Pepe at BIOPARC Valencia in Spain on 17th August.

Virunga along with her three brothers Ebo, Pepe and Félix, are the result of the intense conservation work carried out by the international programs developed in institutions such as BIOPARC.

She is a 5-year-old Western Coastal Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The “precious” Virunga was born five years ago within an important European ex situ conservation program (EEP) in which the BIOPARCs from both Valencia and Fuengirola participate. The involvement of the BIOPARCs has brought great joy in recent years, with the births of three males in Valencia, Ebo, Pepe and Felix, and a girl, Virunga; and a male in Fuengirola, Ekan.

According to Bioparc team, the little gorilla Virunga was named after a woman who worked to study and protect these great primates, Dian Fossey. The iconic and fighter conservationist developed her work in the Virunga Mountains, now a sanctuary for gorillas. Her story reminds us that the salvation of this species and the preservation of nature is in our hands, so a change of attitude and a firm commitment from all to the protection of the planet is necessary.