Gorillas deserve to be in the wild (and not rampaging through small towns), so we at Green Gorilla Books are excited to partner with The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

A portion of every book sold will go towards "adopting" gorillas. Our first adoptee is Ishimwe. 

Ishimwe was born on July 16, 2015. His name means “praise” or “gratitude.

Ishimwe was the first surviving infant in father Mafunzo’s group, and for that reason the favorite of his father, but there are now also two other gorillas close in age to Ishimwe: Ukwiyunga and Umutware. The three youngsters are inseparable.

Ishimwe initially struggled when his mother gave birth again when he was just three. His mother, Taraja, gradually pushed Ishimwe to be independent and stopped nursing, but she still cuddled with him for long grooming sessions, which for gorillas is reassuring and calming.

He is now a fantastic older brother to Suraurwanda (whose name means “visit Rwanda”) and was born in November 2018.