IT IS the mother of all custody cases — and with as much mud-slinging as a celebrity bust-up. The natural mother wants her children back, even if she cannot provide all the comforts of the adopted home. Foster parents say: “No way.”

The case is now before independent adjudicators, with both sides awaiting the results of DNA tests. Sound familiar? Maybe, except that the children are western lowland gorillas.

The four gorillas, named Oyin, Tinu, Abby and Izan and aged between 5 and 7, were stolen as babies from the rainforests of Cameroon, smuggled across the border to Nigeria and exported with forged papers via South Africa to Taiping zoo in Malaysia in 2002.

Nigerian zookeepers admitted to investigators monitoring the trade in endangered species that the animals had not been born in captivity, as the papers stated, but had been stolen from the wild. Zoos are not allowed to trade wild animals.

The Malaysian Government stepped in and seized the animals. The “Taiping Four”, as they are dubbed by conservationists, were transferred to the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, South Africa, supposedly the country of export, in April last year.

The zoo built a new gorilla house for the apes, which can weigh up to 600lb (272kg) and have 8ft (2.44m) arm spans.

It is estimated that fewer than 100,000 remain in the wild. Their numbers have been decimated by loggers who are destroying their habitat, the slaughtering of adults for bush meat, and the Ebola virus.

The Government of Cameroon, backed by conservationists, such as Jane Goodall, the primate expert, has repeatedly called for the return of the gorillas in accordance with the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which states that wherever possible confiscated animals should be returned to their native land.

Willie Labuschagne, executive director of Pretoria zoo, described as “stubborn as hell” by one environmentalist, says the gorillas will not be moved. He says the overriding issue is how best to save the lowland gorilla and argues that breeding programmes such as his are the best way.

That view, and suggestions that the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon is not up to the same standard, has infuriated conservationists.

Jason Bell-Leask, Southern Africa’s director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said: “The continued delay by South Africa in returning the gorillas is a diplomatic gaffe in the context of African co-operation, not to mention a shameful disregard for the Cites regulations.”

But the South African Government seems divided on the issue. The zoo in Pretoria comes under the Ministry of Science, whereas the implementation of Cites is a matter for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The two could never apparently agree a joint position.

In June, the Cameroon Government formally requested the apes’ repatriation. This week, a delegation arrived in South Africa for talks.

Mary Fosi, a senior adviser to Cameroon’s Ministry of Environment and one of the delegates, said she was confident that the South Africans would co-operate once DNA tests prove the apes’ origin.

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