A gorilla rescued from the illegal wildlife trade as an orphan has given birth in the wild, marking a historic conservation success in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lulingu, an eastern lowland gorilla, was just 18 months old when she was pulled from traffickers in 2016. She grew up at the GRACE sanctuary, where another gorilla, Pinga, became her surrogate mother. In December 2024, Lulingu and three other females were released into Virunga National Park — the first rewilding of GRACE gorillas.

The group joined silverback Mwasa’s family on Mt Tshiaberimu, and Lulingu has now given birth to her first infant, photographed on August 6. Both are healthy, and none of the four rewilded females has needed veterinary treatment since release, according to Gorilla Doctors.

The birth is a milestone for the isolated Mt Tshiaberimu population, which modelling showed could face extinction within 50 years without new breeding females.