The Gorilla Foundation is partnering with The Aspinall Foundation to create the MaKoko Gorilla Foundation within the Lesio Louna Reserve in The Republic of Congo.  We’re still in the design phase as of August 2026, but we are supporting the Aspinall Foundations efforts to take care of the gorillas they have already released into the reserve.
In December 2025, something went wrong in one of Lesio-Louna’s gorilla families. The nine-member group, led by a young silverback, were separated after what field staff believe was a tense encounter with another male who had been seen following the group. Camera traps showed a two-year-old infant alone at night, the infant’s mother, Koto, wandering by herself the next morning, and another mother, Tchivou, pacing in front of the same camera for days with her own baby, seeming to search for the rest of the group.
By early January, the footage brought partial good news:Â Tchivou, Massabi, and a third female had found one another again and were traveling together with their infants, although the silverback, Koto, and her infant were not seen.
Follow the development of the MaKoko Gorilla Sanctuary, which will make it possible for many more gorillas to find a safe path back to Nature, by subscribing to our KokoLove Video Newsletter (click the Subscribe button at the top of Koko.org).
