I want to introduce you to Pili-Pili. He is truly one of the unsung heroes of gorilla conservation. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Kahuzi Biega National Park you will meet Pili-Pili at the Tshivanga station – the entrance to the park. It is here that Pili-Pili greets visitors and shares his knowledge with today’s rangers.

Pili-Pili worked alongside Kahuzi Biega National Park’s founder, the late Adrian Deschryver, in the 1960s and was the first ever ranger to habituate gorillas in the park. As you can imagine he knows everything about the park and has more experience with gorillas than anyone I know.

Pili-Pili is now too old to make the trek in to the forest to see the gorillas (he is not sure himself how old he is), but he is a fountain of knowledge. The chief warden at the park, Mr Radar Nishuli, calls him the living library of gorilla conservation as he knows so much about the gorillas and is happy to share his vast experience with anyone who has the time to talk to him.