Young gorilla rescued from aircraft hold recovers at Istanbul zoo

A young gorilla rescued from a plane’s cargo hold is recovering at an Istanbul zoo, officials said, while wildlife officers consider returning him to his 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, he 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 on 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 he was found, Zeytin has gained weight and is showing signs of recovering from his 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.