On May 21, 2026, Lulingu gave birth on Mt. Tshiaberimu in Virunga National Park. Her baby, a critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla (also known as Eastern Lowland Gorilla), was fathered by Mwasa, the wild silverback whose family she joined following her historic reintroduction.
For everyone who has been part of Lulingu’s journey—and for the future of Grauer’s gorillas—this is an extraordinary moment.
Where Lulingu’s Story Began
When Lulingu arrived at GRACE in 2016, she was the youngest gorilla ever brought into our care. At just 18 months old, she had been rescued by ICCN and Gorilla Doctors after being taken from her family for the illegal wildlife trade. Once she was stabilized, Lulingu was transferred to GRACE, where expert gorilla caregivers Devotte Kavira Kihira and Kambale Muviri provided the round-the-clock support she needed.
They fed her, comforted her, and helped a frightened baby gorilla begin to recover.
Months later, they helped prepare Lulingu for another life-changing step: joining a surrogate gorilla family.
Pinga, one of GRACE’s experienced female gorillas, immediately took the tiny newcomer into her care. Lulingu grew up learning the social relationships and natural behaviors she would need throughout her life as a central part of the surrogate gorilla family at GRACE.
A Future We Once Dared to Imagine
In 2020, when we looked back on Lulingu’s rescue story, there was still one chapter we couldn’t write.
The final hope was that someday she might return to the wild.
That hope required years of rehabilitation, science, planning, partnership, and the extraordinary dedication of GRACE’s Congolese team. Then, in late 2024, Lulingu, Isangi, Mapendo, and Ndjingala made history, becoming the first gorillas from GRACE to return to the wild.
On December 3, they voluntarily left the rewilding facility on Mt. Tshiaberimu and followed Mwasa into the forest.
Their remarkable rewilding journey was about much more than returning four individual gorillas to the forest. The goal was to help reinforce one of the world’s smallest and most isolated Grauer’s gorilla populations—and give the remaining gorillas at Mt. Tshiaberimu a better chance for the future.
Lulingu’s baby is a beautiful sign that this future is beginning to take shape.
A New Generation Begins
There are still risks ahead. Raising an infant in the wild is challenging, and every life matters in this small, isolated population.
But there is tremendous reason for hope. For GRACE Animal Care Manager Dalmas Kakule Syangeha, who has known Lulingu since she was a baby, the news carried enormous meaning.
“When I heard about the birth of Lulingu’s baby, it filled my heart with immense joy. May this birth symbolize a better future for the gorillas of Mt. Tshiaberimu—a new generation, one more life, and another chance for the species’ survival.”
Monitoring teams see Lulingu nursing, cradling, and playing with her baby. Mother and infant are healthy, and the team will continue watching them closely as this new chapter unfolds.
Coming Full Circle
Lulingu came to GRACE after losing her family to the illegal wildlife trade. A dedicated team helped her heal. A surrogate gorilla mother welcomed her into a family again. Years later, she returned to the forest—and now she is raising a family of her own.
For Devotte, who cared for Lulingu during her earliest days at GRACE, seeing where that little gorilla’s life has led is deeply personal.
“I was so happy to learn that Lulingu had given birth,” Devotte said. “I cared for her during quarantine and helped her integrate into her GRACE family. Now, I feel like a grandmother to this baby—the little gorilla I cared for has become a mother.”
For nearly a decade, Lulingu’s story has been shaped by extraordinary care, patience, partnership, and commitment—from Congolese caregivers like Devotte and Kambale, who stayed beside her when she was a frightened 18-month-old orphan, to the gorillas who helped her learn how to be part of a family, to the teams and communities who made her return to the wild possible.
Kambale sees this birth not only as a deeply moving moment, but as a reminder of the shared responsibility to protect what comes next.
“She arrived here when she was very small,” Kambale said. “I cared for her in quarantine and helped teach her how to eat, and now she has become a mother. I hope she takes very good care of her baby—and that our communities will continue working together to protect this species.”
Today, all of those chapters come together in one remarkable image: Lulingu, in the forest, holding a baby of her own.
For the gorillas of Mt. Tshiaberimu—and for the future of critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas—that is an extraordinary reason to believe in what comes next.
Follow Lulingu’s Journey
2016: Welcome to GRACE, Lulingu
2016: A Family for Lulingu
2020: An Anniversary We Don’t Celebrate
2020: Preparing Gorillas for Reintroduction
2025: Rewilding Hope: Grauer’s Gorillas Return to the Forest in Historic First
2026: A Historic Gorilla Rewilding: The Story Continues
Watch Lulingu’s Story From the Beginning
Want to see where Lulingu’s extraordinary journey began?
In this 20-minute film, follow the story of her 2016 rescue and arrival at GRACE as an 18-month-old orphan—the beginning of a journey that would ultimately lead her back to the wild and, ten years later, to becoming a mother.
Watch Lulingu’s rescue story on YouTube →
A Collaborative Conservation Effort
The rewilding and population reinforcement of Grauer’s gorillas on Mt. Tshiaberimu is a collaborative effort led by GRACE Gorillas, Gorilla Doctors, Virunga National Park, and local communities, with Re:wild, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), and an international Project Advisory Committee contributing expertise and support.
Together, these partners continue to monitor the gorillas, learn from this unprecedented effort, and work toward a future for Grauer’s gorillas in the wild.
READ THE JOINT PRESS RELEASE HERE.