A baby gorilla rescued from the cargo hold of a Turkish Airlines plane is recovering at an Istanbul zoo and may be returned to his natural habitat, officials have said.
The five-month old gorilla, named Zeytin, or Olive, after a public competition, was discovered in a box at Istanbul Airport during a customs check while he was being flown illegally from Nigeria to Thailand.
He was subsequently taken to Polonezkoy Zoo, just outside the city, to recover from the traumatic journey.
“Of course, what we want and desire is for the baby gorilla… to continue its life in its homeland,” Fahrettin Ulu, regional director of Istanbul Nature Conservation and National Parks, said on Sunday.
“What is important is that an absolutely safe environment is established in the place it goes to, which is extremely important for us.”
Veterinarian Gulfem Esmen said: “When he first came, he was very shy, he would stay where we left him. He doesn’t have that shyness now. He doesn’t even care about us much. He plays games by himself.”
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Both gorilla species – the western and eastern gorillas, which populate central Africa’s remote forests and mountains – are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Istanbul has become a major air hub between continents at a time when customs officials are regularly intercepting illegally traded animals.
In October, 17 young Nile crocodiles and 10 monitor lizards were found in an Egyptian passenger’s luggage at the city’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
