Adorable photos show a gorilla embrace a park ranger employed to protect her

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This gorilla certainly found a keeper when she wrapped her arms around Andre the park ranger.

Young gorilla Ndazi shared a big hug with Andre before jumping on him for a piggyback.

Andre is employed as one of the keepers at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he looks after animals at risk of losing their habitat.

Mountain gorillas are a critically endangered species with an estimated 880 left in existence, according to WWF, although that number is increasing.

Just over half of those live in the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Just last month it was revealed the government wants to redraw the boundaries of the Virunga national park which has UNESCO World Heritage status.

But oil exploiters want to explore parts of the area which has seen ongoing civil conflict and poaching over the years.


Sat 9 Jun 2018 at 07:24

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