From June 11 to 15, 2012 Apenheul Primate Park in Apeldoorn (together with GaiaZOO Kerkrade) hosted the International Gorilla Workshop. The new conference center De St@art was the perfect environment for presentations, discussions and extensive chats between colleagues and friends. Although the workshop (like the previous ones) mainly addressed gorilla keepers from zoos all over the world, many other gorilla friends attended it, like curators, field researchers, conservationists and "gorilla enthusiasts".

Most presentations and discussions covered issues connected with gorilla husbandry and management, but some experts contributed reports from the wild.

One highlight for many gorilla friends was the auction of all kinds of objects that the participants had brought with them. After the silent auction some objects were left; they were presented by Janse Heijn during a "loud" auction. The result was remarkable: Euro 1235.50 for the Clubs des Amis des Gorilles in the Ebo Forest.

Apart from plenty of presentations, the participants had also the opportunity to visit the Apenheul Primate Park (and GaiaZOO) and the gorillas there. There was a special presentation in English to introduce the individual gorillas. Moreover, the keepers offered a walk through the gorilla island and explained the special environment for the gorillas there. All in all, it was a perfect conference that everybody enjoyed very much.

Angela Meder