>>5044354
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Female gorilla in viral 2019 selfie dies in arms of ‘lifelong friend’
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published Oct. 6, 2021
Updated Oct. 6, 2021, 3:28 p.m. ET
https://nypost.com/2021/10/06/viral-gorilla-from-2019-selfie-dies-in-arms-of-lifelong-friend/
An orphaned mountain gorilla in Africa, whose ultra-smooth selfie with a park ranger went viral, died in the arms of her caretaker and “lifelong friend,” officials announced.
Ndakasi passed away on Sept. 26 after she “rapidly deteriorated” following a prolonged illness, park officials said in a statement Tuesday.
The 14-year-old female primate became a social media sensation in 2019 when she hilariously photobombed park ranger Mathiew Shamavu at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The pic shows Ndakasi and fellow orphaned gorilla Ndeze coolly posing behind Shamavu with cheeky grins on their faces.
“It is with heartfelt sadness that Virunga announces the death of beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi, who had been under the care of the park’s Senkwekwe Center for more than a decade,” the park said. “Ndakasi took her final breath in the loving arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma.”
