Lynda (whom I referred to as Jason in the last post) has made another great find. A picture of Natalie at the naming ceremony in Rwanda plus an article describing what happened. And as it turns out, she didn’t choose the name Ahazaza, but instead named Ahazaza’s infant Gukina, which means ‘play’.

The week before the ceremony we’d had several special guests at MGVP, including Jack Hanna and Natalie Portman. They’d come to Rwanda to film a special for Animal Planet; now they too had been granted the honor of naming a gorilla infant. Jack was among the first in line during the ceremony. He chose Ingufu (strength, energy) for Bikereri’s infant in Pablo group.

Natalie looked stunning in her ceremonial dress. Before announcing the name she’d chosen, she told the audience about her trek to see the mountain gorillas the day before. She’d visited Group 13 and said she had fallen in love with the entire family as she watched the youngsters play while their parents ate bamboo shoots. Natalie chose the name Gukina, which means “play,” for Ahazaza’s infant.

Here is Natalie.

And here is the beautiful gorilla she named.

Goodnight!