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The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has confirmed the birth of a new baby mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park; south Western Uganda.
The birth has been confirmed in the Nkuringo Sector in Southern Bwindi by the rangers patrolling the tropical rain forest. The baby mother has been identified as Furaha, an adult female gorilla within the Nkuringo Gorilla Family, one of the oldest gorilla families to be habituated for gorilla visits in Southern Bwindi.
The announcement of the new birth is great news to conservationists since this is the same family that lost Rafiki, a silverback gorilla that was killed by poachers during the Covid Lockdown in 2020.
After the death of Rafiki, there were fears of the splitting of the group. However, the family remained together under the leadership of Rwamutwe, the dominant black-back that was living in the family.
The new birth has increased the gorilla family size to 15 individuals. The Nkuringo Family was habituated for gorilla trekking in 2004 and it is among the oldest gorilla families to have opened for tourism in Bwindi. The family is popular to tourists who opt to go gorilla tracking in the southern sector of Bwindi.
The Nkuringo Gorilla family has a long history. It welcomed twins in December 2004, a rare occurrence in gorilla families. The gorilla family also registered several splits that affected its size.
The birth of a baby gorilla in Bwindi Forest is such amazing news in the conservation world. It is also celebratory news for tour operators as well as wildlife enthusiasts.
There are as few as about 1060 mountain gorillas left in the whole world. These great apes that belong to the Eastern gorilla species are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Uganda hosts half of the world’s remaining population of mountain gorillas in two gazetted national parks; Bwindi Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. The remnant population of these primates live in the nearby Volcanoes National Park Rwanda and the Virunga National Park of Congo (DRC).
Since mountain gorillas are endangered, every new birth brings more hope for the conservation of the mountain gorillas for not only the present generation but also future generations.
Once dwindling in numbers, mountain gorillas are the only great apes whose numbers are now on the rise.
Gorilla tourism is a booming business and the backbone of Uganda’s tourism industry. The mountain gorillas attract well-heeled tourists and the local economy is boosted by tourist visits to the southern parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park.
Today tourism is the top source of foreign revenue for Uganda and the tourism to see the gorillas is one of the fuels of the economy for not only Uganda but also Rwanda.