Mountain gorilla who became selfie star dies at 14
- By Web Desk -
- Oct 07, 2021
A mountain gorilla whose picture went viral after she photobombed a park ranger’s selfie has died at 14.
Ndakazi “took her final breath in the loving arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma,” a statement from the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Tuesday.
In 2019, a photo showing two gorillas posing for a selfie with two rangers at the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo went massively viral on social media.
Sharing again, selfie of the century, a ranger and friends at Virunga National Park in DR Congo. On #WorldRangerDay pic.twitter.com/Kp3BCkCHCS
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) July 31, 2020
The two primates in the selfie were Ndakasi and Ndeze, orphaned female gorillas who grew up at Senkwekwe centre at DRC They became quite a global sensation after the selfie went viral online.
Sadly, Ndakaski has passed away at age of 14 on September 26 after a prolonged illness, the park said on an Instagram post.
It is with heartfelt sadness that Virunga announces the death of beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi.
C’est avec une profonde tristese que Virunga annonce le décès du gorille de montagne orpheliné Ndakasi.https://t.co/GdkJbhWESz pic.twitter.com/bsCKdEq8tB
— Virunga NationalPark (@gorillacd) October 5, 2021
The post shared a heartbreaking photo of the gorilla lying in the arms of her carer Andre Bauma, who had appeared in the famous selfie.
Tributes have poured in from users, who wrote the gorilla will be missed by many. The post currently has over 31,000 reactions and hundreds of comments.