Newborn baby gorilla in Virunga National Park

Newborn baby gorilla in Virunga National Park: On the 22nd of September 2020, the Virunga National park received great news amidst the current pandemic that has halted the daily operations of the park. The Nyakamwe gorilla family gave birth to twins. The mother gorilla to these twins is Gato a member of the Nyakamwe mountain gorilla family in Virunga national park.

This brings delight to the park as it shows the efforts of conservation and also indicates the growth in numbers of the mountain gorillas in the park. Nyakamwe gorilla family is one of the eight mountain gorilla families of the park. The gorilla families include the Kabirizi group, the humba group, the Bageni group, the Lulengo group, the Munyaga gorilla family, the rugendo gorilla family, the mapuwa gorilla group, and the Nyakamwe gorilla group that we are congratulating.

The COVID-19 global pandemic saw the Virunga national park close its gates once again in late March to protect the mountain gorillas from contracting this life-threatening virus which definitely affected the revenue of the park endangering the protection of the mountain gorillas but this didn’t stop the dedicated staff of Virunga national park from protecting the gorillas and this can be witnessed when the park reopens its doors to visitors again. There have been a few updates on what has been going on at the park along with some funds raised by well-wishers. The COVID-19 virus is a human virus but can be transferred to the gorilla which was the biggest fear of the park authorities who concluded to close the park on the 23rd of March 2020 and all booked tours to be postponed to a further date when they are ready to receive visitors with the standard operating procedures in place.

The birth of these twin baby gorillas has not been the only new birth witnessed at the park since the temporary closure of the Virunga park in March 2020 due to COVID-19. On the 23rd of August a new baby from the Mapuwa family was welcomed, on the 2nd of July, the Baraka gorilla family also welcomed a baby gorilla. The gorillas have really been busy during this period and we are excited to show you the mountain gorillas when the Virunga park reopens.

The Virunga national park during this period has also been doing renovations on their health centre that will provide health care services to the rangers along with their family members, also the rangers have been carrying out operations within the park clearing the snares that poachers may have set to trap the gorillas and this has been a successful project. The rangers were able to free a baby gorilla that had fallen into the snare trap with the help of the Virunga gorilla doctors. The rangers have also been able to collect a few buffalo snares, cable snares and nylon snares and are still on the search for more all with an aim to ensure the mountain gorillas of Virunga are safe.

The well-wishers that have sent in funds to keep the Virunga national park running during this period are the reason the park is functional and are highly appreciated. Special appreciation goes to the rangers who have continued to work in these tough times and also the Virunga fund that has been supported by the Europe aid and the Earth Alliance that has notable figures like Leonardo DiCaprio that have pulled funds to protect the park during this pandemic.

The mountain gorillas are the major tourist attraction of the Virunga national park where visitors visit the park with an aim of gorilla trekking. There are a few safari packages that you can book to visit these newborn babies when the park reopens like the Mikeno mist package, Virunga Classic package, and the Great ape package that you can check out on our safaris page. We look forward to hearing from you soon.