Baby gorilla rescued from flight to Thailand recovers at Istanbul zoo
Zeytin, a five-month-old male gorilla infant that was rescued at Istanbul Airport, drinks milk in a specially created section of a zoo on Jan 12, 2025. (Photo: AP/Khalil Hamra)
ISTANBUL: A young gorilla rescued from a plane’s cargo hold is recovering at an Istanbul zoo, officials said Sunday (Jan 12), while wildlife officers consider returning the ape to its natural habitat.
The five-month-old gorilla was discovered in a box on a Turkish Airlines flight from Nigeria to Thailand last month. After a public competition, it has been named Zeytin, or Olive, and is recuperating at Polonezkoy Zoo.
“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 Sunday.
“What is important is that an absolutely safe environment is established in the place it goes to, which is extremely important for us.”
In the weeks since it was found, Zeytin has gained weight and is showing signs of recovering from its traumatic journey.
“When he first came, he was very shy, he would stay where we left him,” said veterinarian Gulfem Esmen. “He doesn’t have that shyness now. He doesn’t even care about us much. He plays games by himself.”
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.
As Istanbul emerges as a major air hub between continents, customs officials have increasingly intercepted 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.
