Joy as Bwindi welcomes bouncing mountain gorilla baby
One of the adult females in Nkuringo Sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has welcomed a new baby. According to a press release by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Furaha, an adult female gorilla has given birth to a healthy baby in Nkuringo, South of Bwindi National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site that was gazetted to protect the mountain gorillas.
The rangers patrolling the Bwindi Forests have confirmed the mother and baby are doing well though the sex of the baby gorillas has not yet been established.
The wildlife body has also shared the first mobile image of the world’s newest mountain gorilla baby on its social media handles including Facebook and X (former Twitter).
The birth of the newborn mountain gorilla brings the number of members in the Nkuringo Family to 15 individuals.
Nkuringo is a popular gorilla family in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It is one of the oldest families to have been habituated for gorilla tracking in the southern sectors of the impenetrable forest. It was opened to gorilla tourism in 2004 and the group is one of the most popular families visited by tourists who travel to the impenetrable forest of western Uganda.
It is also the same gorilla family where Rafiki, a popular silverback gorilla lived. Rafiki is the silverback gorilla that was killed by poachers during the covid times in 2020. The poachers were arrested in 2020 and sentenced to 11 years in prison in January 2021.
The confirmation of the new birth in the Nkuringo Family is celebratory news to the world. The new birth is a great mileage in the conservation of mountain gorillas that are estimated to be as few as 1050 individuals left in the whole world.
Today Bwindi Impenetrable National Park hosts almost half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas. The remnant population lives in the Virunga Region that comprises of Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda, Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga National Park of Uganda.
The birth of a baby gorilla is always celebratory news to conservationists, tourists and the Ugandan community.
The increase in the population of the mountain gorillas that at one time was listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature prove that the Uganda Wildlife Authority has taken a leading role in the conservation of wildlife for not only the present generation but also the future generations.
In 2008, the world gorilla population was estimated to be about 680 individuals left in the whole world. The recent efforts have seen the population to grow up to 1063 mountain gorillas as per the results of 2018 done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Sarambwe Annex.
Today, Uganda can brag about being a safe haven for mountain gorillas despite the numerous threats that still affect wildlife conservation across the African continent.
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