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Ndume the gorilla settling in at Cincinnati Zoo, but he's not ready to see you (yet)

Posted at 7:05 PM, Jul 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-03 19:05:04-04

CINCINNATI — After a lengthy legal battle between the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and the Gorilla Foundation, Ndume the silverback gorilla is back in the zoo where he was born.

It’s changed since he left it in 1991, however, and helping a 38-year-old gorilla adjust to a new living space can be tough, the zoo wrote Wednesday on Facebook. For now, they’re taking the rehoming process at his pace and letting him spend some alone time in his new habitat.

“He has looked around the entire space and seems to be comfortable there,” the zoo wrote on Facebook. “For now, the guest viewing windows are covered to give him some privacy. He can see silhouettes of people through the coverings, and eventually small holes will be cut so he can peep out. We’ll gradually make the holes bigger and ultimately remove the covering.”

Ndume hasn’t been introduced to the other gorillas yet, according to the zoo. Two of Gorilla World’s five habitats have been set aside just for him during his mandatory new-animal “quarantine period.”

Once he is comfortable with his living space and has adjusted to his daily routines, he’ll start having brief visits with his new roommates.

Here's hoping none of them eat bananas that don't belong to them.