Two Baby Gorillas Born in Bwindi Forest Amidst 2020 Corona-virus Pandemic

Two baby Gorillas Born in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through Gorilla Tourism is Closed due to Coronavirus Pandemic

Two new baby gorillas have been born in the Bwindi forest to Nshongi and Muyambi gorilla families. Though gorilla tourism was recently halted due to the corona-virus outbreak and the risk of its spread to the great apes, the birth of these 2 baby gorillas is celebrated and a boom to the industry. Though tourists can not visit the park, the park rangers are still within the park to continue with the habituation process as well as protect the mountain gorillas from poachers.

The two new baby gorillas were born to the Muyambi and Nshongi gorilla groups within a period of one week. The two baby gorillas are thought to have been born on the 25^th of April and the 1^st of May 2020 has caused a lot of excitement among the conservationists and gorilla families.

In the Nshongi gorilla group, Mother Kabagyenyi and silverback Bweza who birthed the baby are taking good care of the newborn. In the Muyambi group, silverback Muyambi and an unnamed mother are soothing and warming the newborn of their family. This is as stated by the Uganda Wildlife Authority spokesperson Bashir.

Due to the high security mounted by the parents to guard their babies, the sexes of the newborn babies aren’t yet revealed. This is common as the parents get so aggressive and guard their babies against any harm after birth which makes it hard to establish the sex of the babies sex a few days after birth.

Nshongi group was the first gorilla family to be habituated and opened up for Uganda gorilla trekking safaris in the Rushaga sector. By then, the group had at least 35 individuals, however, they kept splitting and currently, the group has 10 individuals including the newborn.

The mother to the newborn, known as Kabagyenyi joined the Nshongi gorilla group from a wild group. Later on the lead silverback of the group, Bweza starting mating with her and the newborn is her first baby. She is estimated to be about 10 years.

Two Baby Gorillas Born in Bwindi

Mother Kabagyenyi of the Nshongi group attending to the newborn baby gorilla

Muyambi gorilla group unlike the Nshongi group that is older, is the newest group in the sector that opened just in 2019. The group has just six individuals led by silverback Muyambi who was an adult gorilla of the Mubare family that split and formed the Muyambi gorilla group. The unnamed mother who birthed the newborn joined the group from a wild group.

The arrival of the two new baby gorillas is a celebration for the conservationists since the increase in the number of gorillas in Bwindi shows success in the conservation process. By the end of 2019, the mountain gorilla population world over was at 1,063 after the census in the Bwindi forest that had a park with about 459 mountain gorillas. With several births after the census, the Bwindi forest has more than 500 mountain gorillas and 50% of the total population.

This makes gorilla trekking such a much more amazing activity with many youngsters leaping around the forest. After the lockdown, book Uganda gorilla safari or Rwanda gorilla tours with Acacia Safaris for perfect safaris.

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