Gorilla Gazette (2005) 18: 28-31. Makoua, the dominant male of the first reintroduced group, in 2004. Photo by Tony King. Gorilla reintroduction programme, Republic of Congo Tony King Projet Protection des Gorilles, BP 13977, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo As far as I know, the last update in the Gorilla Gazette concerning the Projet Protection des Gorilles in Congo was by Mark Attwater in 1994. At that time, preparations were still being made to transfer some of the older gorillas at the Brazzaville Gorilla Orphanage to the Lesio- Louna Reserve, an area of undulating grasslands and gallery forest 140 km north of Brazzaville. The transfer of the first group finally occurred in December 1994, and by December 1998 all the gorillas in the care of the project were located in the Lesio-Louna Reserve, the Brazzaville orphanage having been evacuated during the civil war of 1997. During those ten years since the first transfer to Lesio-Louna, the project has evolved greatly, so much so that since September 2004 there are no longer any gorillas living in complete freedom in the Lesio-Louna Reserve. Four young orphans are still in the Lesio-Louna, spending the nights in small wooden dormitories while learning the necessary skills to survive in the forest during the days. Four adult males also remain in the Lesio-Louna, but now in captivity. The remaining fourteen gorillas that were living free in the Lesio-Louna have now been transferred to the adjacent Lefini Reserve, five in January 2003 and nine in September 2004, in what we believe is the final stage in their full re- introduction to the area. Before considering the Lefini re-introduction programme, we should first look at our experiences in the Lesio-Louna reserve. The two rivers in the reserve, the Lesio and the Louna, and the escarpments along the eastern boundary of the reserve, were considered to be natural barriers to the movements of the released gorillas. This was the case initially, but as the gorillas grew older and more independent, they were able to use overhanging or fallen trees to cross the smaller of the two rivers, the Lesio. They even learnt to use our ferry to cross the river, operated by pulling on the ropes attached to each bank. This meant that the camp was no longer separate from the free-ranging gorillas, and had to be protected with an electric fence. Even this fence proved unreliable, the gorillas learning to test the fence with grass stems to see if it was working, and even if it was, they broke branches to form bridges across it. The first fence was replaced with a higher fence, but still, the more persistent gorillas improvised ways to enter the camp, by jumping from the water tower, or by ambushing staff as they opened the gates. These raids on the camp, to find easy food, were annoying and disrupted the project work, and also frightened visitors not used to nearly-full-grown gorillas challenging them for their dinner. However, more serious problems arose when adult males were pushed out of the groups as they matured, and began to range further in the reserve in search of other groups. Of course they didn’t find them, but they did prove capable of following the forests up the steep escarpments bordering the reserve, finding themselves in the banana and manioc bonanza of the surrounding villages. Adult male gorillas gorging themselves on the local harvest was obviously going to end in trouble, one way or the other. The local population showed surprising restraint, and the gorillas were returned to the reserve, sometimes being led by