Rescued gorilla with one arm becomes mom

By Olivia Stringer

A wildlife charity is celebrating after a one-armed gorilla they twice rescued from snares in Africa gave birth in the wild — despite being in her 30s.

The western lowland gorilla named Lengui has been captured on camera cradling her newborn baby after defying the odds in the Congo.

She was left orphaned over 30 years ago, when she was 18 months old, after her mother was caught in a hunter's snare in 1994.

Lengui was rescued, and taken to a gorilla orphanage, but eight years later lost her hand after becoming trapped in another snare, which cut through her hand and led to it being amputated.

She was later taken in by The Aspinall Foundation, based in Hythe, Kent, at the Brazzaville Gorilla Orphanage in Congo, where she was "loved and rehabilitated" before being reintroduced into the wild.

Now in her 30s, footage captured by the charity shows Lengui with a healthy baby, which appeared to be around 1 week old.

Charity bosses said the arrival of the baby gorilla, thought to have been born on Valentine's Day, was "wonderful news," and an exciting new chapter in mom Lengui's "remarkable life."

Tony King, The Aspinall Foundation's reintroduction coordinator, said, "We've been waiting for this news for months, it seemed like an age until Elie finally sent the message we'd been waiting for.

"It's wonderful news, and another chapter in Lengui's remarkable life story."

When Lengui's mother was captured by a snare in 1994, the baby gorilla was tied to a stake and given fruit, as she was too small to eat or sell as smoked meat, but there was a chance a price could be fetched for her alive.

Word of the orphaned gorilla spread, and a scout from Odzala National Park raced to rescue her.

A week later, she was transferred to Brazzaville Gorilla Orphanage, where she was rehabilitated and eventually returned to the wild.

In 2002, Lengui caught her hand in a snare, which she was able to rip from the ground, due to her strength.

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However, this tightened the metal cable around her palm, causing the snare to cut through to the bone.

The wound became infected leading vets to amputate her arm below the elbow, in a lifesaving operation.

Following the amputation, Lengui went on to quietly raise a daughter, and has been mostly out of the spotlight for around 20 years.

Tony said, "She even disappeared completely for over four years.

"Shying away from contact with people, clearly understanding that we were responsible, to some extent or other, for amputating her hand."

In late 2025, Lengui was captured looking heavily pregnant on videos collected by a network of motion-sensor camera traps placed in the Lesio-Louna gorilla reserve, the first reserve ever to home a reintroduced gorilla population.

In April this year, gorilla researcher Elie Djoli Camara, finally sent word that Lengui had again been caught on camera, this time on February 21, with a newborn baby.

The charity said motherhood this time around will not be easy for Lengui, as baby gorillas are dependent on their mothers for three to four years, and the average lifespan of a gorilla in the wild is 35-40 years.

Elie said, "We just have to wait, month by month, for any snippets of information the camera traps can provide and then piece that information together, like a jigsaw, over time."

Amos Courage, The Aspinall Foundation's director of overseas projects, added, "Lengui's story is unique in many ways.

"And yet there are still gorillas being orphaned today, taken from the wild, and trafficked around the world.

"We remain committed to providing those that are rescued with the opportunity to return to the wild.

"We hope Lengui's story, and those of many others also successfully rewilded over several decades in partnership with the governments of Congo and Gabon, will help inform and inspire authorities the world over to do what it takes to return trafficked gorillas to the forests of their birth.

"Their stories are only just beginning."