Nigeria Baby gorilla picked up at Istanbul airport

SDA

13.1.2025 - 10:37

dpatopbilder - Zeytin, a five-month-old gorilla baby rescued at Istanbul airport. Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP/dpa
dpatopbilder - Zeytin, a five-month-old gorilla baby rescued at Istanbul airport. Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP/dpa
Keystone

A baby gorilla found at Istanbul airport is attracting a lot of attention in Turkey.

Keystone-SDA

The little ape was found in a cage at the end of November and is now being nursed back to health in an Istanbul zoo, reports the state news agency Anadolu. Apparently he was supposed to be illegally shipped from Nigeria to Thailand.

"This is the first time we have found a gorilla of this kind in Turkey," Fahrettin Ulu, Director of Nature Conservation and National Parks, told Anadolu. The young ape is an endangered western gorilla. In the beginning, he was still very shy and melancholy. Now, however, he is lively, plays with cuddly toys and an abacus and sometimes drums on his chest, according to Anadolu. His self-confidence has definitely been boosted, Ulu was quoted as saying.

Future of the little ape still unclear

The fate of the young ape has moved many in Turkey. More than a hundred thousand users took part in an appeal by the nature conservation authority on the X platform to find a name for the gorilla, who has now been christened Zeytin (German: Olive).

According to Ulu, the baby ape has already put on one kilo since it was found and has grown 3.5 centimetres. Vet Gülfem Esmen is one of the people looking after the gorilla - this is new territory for her too. She had to research what a monkey is allowed to eat, she told Anadolu. The little monkey now has milk for breakfast and is fed snacks such as fruit, vegetables and nuts throughout the day.

It is still unclear what will happen next for the monkey. It is hoped that Zeytin will be able to return to his home and be released into the wild in the rainforest, says director Ulu. However, it is still unclear how this could happen.