Five-month-old male gorilla, victim of illegal wildlife trade, seized in Istanbul

On Dec. 22, 2024, Turkish customs officers conducting a random search of a plane’s cargo hold found a surprise stowaway inside a small wooden crate with holes: a malnourished baby gorilla dressed in a soiled T-shirt.

The Turkish Airlines flight was headed from Nigeria to Thailand and was transiting via Istanbul, authorities told local media. The baby gorilla, transported without necessary permits, is one among many wildlife seized in recent months in Istanbul, a major air-transit hub.

After its seizure, authorities handed over the five-month-old male gorilla to the general directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (DKMP) under the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The gorilla, named Zeytin (meaning ‘olive’ in Turkish) after a social media campaign in early January, is now recovering at Polonezköy Zoo in Istanbul.

“He is doing well,” Aslıhan Niksarlı, a primate expert at the Jane Goodall Institute and director of Roots and Shoots Türkiye, told Mongabay, crediting his well-being to those in charge. She said she has been in touch with the Turkish authorities since the seizure, supporting Zeytin’s care. “He’s beating his chest and threatening people around him, showing he’s becoming the boss — all these signs we see show that he is physically and socially doing well,” Niksarlı added.

Zeytin is one of the latest victims of the booming illegal trafficking of wild apes. Both eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) and western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) are critically endangered and listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits its commercial trade. Niksarlı says further genetic testing would be needed to confirm his species and geographic origin.

The crate in which Zeytin was found was falsely declared as containing 50 rabbits. Subsequent investigations revealed that Zeytin was likely headed to an animal farm in Nakhon Pathom in Central Thailand. Acting on this intelligence, Thai Police raided the farm and seized 284 animals, although their legality is yet to be determined.

Since his seizure, Zeytin has gained weight and grown taller. He’s been fed a nutritious diet, which Niksarlı said was based on a “detailed diet list” put together by Roots and Shoots and the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), the largest primate sanctuary alliance in Africa. Videos, shared by the ministry, show him playing with toys, drinking milk from his bottle and exploring his new surroundings.

The long-term plan of the DKMP is to return Zeytin to “its homeland,” according to Fahrettin Ulu, regional director of DKMP. “Our desire is for [Zeytin] to continue [his] life in the rainforests of Africa,” he said, adding Türkiye is in talks with CITES, other organizations and relevant countries on Zeytin’s repatriation. If these talks succeed, Zeytin could be sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Africa, where he’d be rehabilitated before being released into the wild.

This article by Spoorthy Raman was first published by Mongabay.com on 22 January 2025. Lead Image: Baby gorilla seized in Turkey, courtesy of Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry via Facebook.

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