Natalie Portman names a baby gorilla

While I certainly don’t do much discriminating as far as celebrity gossip is concerned - goss is goss, I like to say - some stories are just more heartwarming than others. And no, I’m not talking about today’s big “Britney Spears Seduced A College Student In A Pool While Chugging Mojitos” story.

This piece of news might strike some as boring because no one is drunk, no one gets arrested, and no body parts get flashed, but for me it is an affirmation that Natalie Portman is not only one of the most talented actresses of our time but also one of the most intelligent, interesting, and morally-grounded.

Actress Natalie Portman and other celebrities descended on a Rwandan wildlife park on June 30th to name 23 baby mountain gorillas and help efforts to conserve the highly endangered species.

Of about 700 of the gorillas left in the world, just over half live around the lush Virunga volcanoes that straddle Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Decimated by conflict and poaching in the volatile region, numbers have begun creeping up again in recent years thanks to Rwandan conservation efforts.

The gorillas are a big-money tourist attraction in Uganda and Rwanda, but remain at risk from warring militias in DRC.

The celebrities got to tour the park and see the primates, but the babies live in the wild and were left alone, with children in costume standing in for them at the naming ceremony.

One baby gorilla was named “Ingufu” — strength in the local Kinyarwanda dialect — in honor of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, a hugely popular wildlife documentary-maker killed by a stingray off his native Australia last year.

“We had been planning to come here for some years. We were going to come and do the mountain gorillas. But unfortunately that wasn’t to be with the tragedy last year,” Irwin’s former manager John Stainton said at the ceremony in the foothills of the sanctuary.

“But having this honor to come and name a gorilla in honor of Steve Irwin takes away a sad memory. Steve would have been absolutely thrilled.”

Portman named her baby gorilla “Ahazaza” (future), while conservationist Jack Hanna chose “Ibanga” (secret) for his.

Here is Natalie in her ceremonial dress

Here’s the cutie she named

(Source)