The Aspinall Foundation help to protect rare and endangered animals not just in the UK, but also in Africa. In conjunction with Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, the Foundation has set up two Gorilla rescue and rehabilitation projects in the Congo and Gabon.

In the African projects, over 50 western lowland gorillas have been successfully reintergrated to their natural habitats,with 11 births to these reintroduced gorillas since 2004. Nine of the gorillas now living in the Gabon park were born at Howletts Wild Animal Park and were transferred to their natural home.

The Aspinall Foundation wildlife charity also helps to reintroduce a number of other endangered animals. These include two black rhinos who were born at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent and were returned in 2007 to their natural home on the Serengeti in Tanzania, as well as przewalski horses and a Sumatran rhino.

The Port Lympne Wild Animal Park is set in nearly 600 acres and features a historic mansion and landscaped gardens. The estate was purchased in 1973 by John Aspinall to solve lack of space at Howletts Wild Animal Park, and was opened to the public in 1976. The park is now home to over 1,000 endangered animals, who are being cared for in an environment as close to their natural habitat as possible, so they can be returned there smoothly when possible.

Thanks to the the support of the general public and donations from their ‘adopt an animal’ scheme, The Aspinall Foundation will continue it’s tireless quest to help nurture animals of all shapes and sizes to the best of their ability.

Adopt an Animal with the Aspinall Foundation

Animal adoptions start from just £3.00 a month which will help to protect your selected species and the recipient of the gift will get the following specific to your chosen animal -

• a wallpaper
• fact sheet
• certificate
• a monthly e-newsletter
• FREE entry to one of the Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks in Kent
• Updates on your animal

> > Click here to adopt an animal with the Aspinall Foundation

The Aspinall Foundation are celebrating the birth of two baby western lowland gorillas at the Howletts Wild Animal Park. Mother to both the new born gorillas, who were born on 8th April 2009 is Boma, a 13 year old female who arrived from St Martin La Plaine Zoo in France.

Head of the Gorilla section at Howletts, Lorna Wanless, said -

We are delighted to welcome another Western Lowland Gorilla to Howletts. We are fortunate to be able to care for and work with so many of this endangered species and pleased to see that mum and baby are showing real signs of bonding.

At sister park Port Lympne, near Hythe, there was also the arrival of another baby gorilla, born to 22 year old Mumba who already has two male offspring. Father of all three is 27 year old Djala, who was rescued from the Congo and has sired 26 babies to date.

Commented Head of Gorilla Section at Port Lympne, Phil Ridges -

We knew that Mumba was pregnant but the gestation period did seem to go on a little longer than anticipated.  Everyone was pleased to see that Mumba had a successful labour and both mother and baby are doing very well.

With only 100,000 Western lowland gorillas left in the world, these gracious creatures could well be extinct by 2020 if their numbers continue to decline through deforestation and the widespread Ebola virus in Central Africa.  The Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks play an important role in the breeding of gorillas, with the two parks now housing the largest collection in human care on the planet with 77 Western lowland gorillas between them. The Aspinall Foundation continues to expand its colony at the Kent parks as well as returning captive bred gorillas to Africa via its rescue and rehabilitation programme in the Congo and Gabon.

Adopt an Animal with the Aspinall Foundation

The Aspinall Foundation Adopt an Animal programme allows you to adopt an animal for yourself or as a charity gift for a friend for just a small monthly donation. Animal adoptions start from just £3.00 a month, and your donation, in conjunction with Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, will help to protect rare and endangered animals.

you will also receive -

• a screensaver
• a fact sheet
• a certificate
• a monthly e-newsletter
• free entry to one of the wild animal parks
• updates on your animal

> > Click to Adopt an Animal with the Aspinall Foundation  today

Other great charity gifts

The Aspinall Foundation works in conjunction with Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks to protect rare and endangered animals, and return them to protected areas in the wild. You can help them continue their great work and also give someone a charity gift that shows you care. You can Adopt an Animal today from just £3 per month – it’s the perfect gift for the person who has everything!

You are adopting a named animal, many of them live at either Howletts or Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, all of them are cared for by The Aspinall Foundation. Many of these animals are rare and endangered so your gift is making a real difference to their future survival. The benefits you receive are sent via email so cutting down on paper wastage. The package includes one ticket to visit either Howletts or Port Lympne.

>> Click here to Adopt an Animal Online with the Aspinall Foundation

Moanda gives birth in the Gabon Case Study – How Your Money Helps

In August 2008 The Aspinall Foundation celebrated the 7th birth for their projects in Africa since Téké was born in 2004. The mother, Moanda is a founder member of the group in Gabon, rescued in 1998 while still only a few months old and nearly 10 years after arrival she became a mum. Moanda arrived with Lekedi who gave birth to her first baby, Okeli, in October 2007 and became part of the group led by dominant male Marco.

The team in Gabon have named this new addition Ntsege which means “plain or savannah” in the local language of Teke. Moanda showed her joy at this baby by trying to show her off to staff members however the males in the group didn’t like this and displayed to the staff.

Since the projects in Congo and Gabon were set up over 19 years ago The Aspinall Foundation have successfully reintroduced over 50 western lowland gorilla, many of these were rescued from the bush-meat trade. The charity has also returned nine young gorillas born at our wild animal parks in Kent to the Gabon, where they are learning to adapt to the challenges of living in the wild.

>> Click here to Adopt an Animal Online with the Aspinall Foundation

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