A baby gorilla grasps the hand of a caregiver at the Lefini Faunal Reserve. The center was set up to rehabilitate "bush-meat orphans," young gorillas whose mothers are illegally killed by poachers for meat. Gorilla babies rely on the care and emotional support of their mother for as long as eight years.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for "Central Africa's Orphan Gorillas," February 2000, National Geographic magazine)