Uganda has welcomed a new baby gorilla born in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The baby gorilla was found on the 11/September/2016 by the trackers who had gone to track the gorillas of the Bikyingi group, one of the habituated gorilla families that tourists visit in Bwindi Forest. It was also believed to have been born on the previous day and this new born brings the number of gorilla individuals within the group to 22.
The Bikyingi gorilla group is found in Rushaga, south of Bwindi Impenetrable National park and has got 21 individuals including; 1 silver back, 9 adult females, 2 sub adults, and 9 infants. This is one of the two groups that are undergoing the habituation process in the park. The Bikyingi is a group which is famous for the Gorilla habituation Expereince that is carried out at the moment. This process started in 2013 while the experience started in January 2015. It’s also known that the last birth among these gorillas in Bwindi was on 21st /08/2016 with in Bushabo which is a group under the habituation located in the Nkuringo with in the southern sector of the park.
This group was first sited in the Bikyingi area which is near the Rushaga before the process to habituate started so it was decided to be named it according to the area. The only silver back and also the leader of the group is called Bikyingi, the naming of the other gorilla individuals has not yet been done since the gorillas are shy and not fully habituated. And therefore the mother of the new born doesn’t have a name at the moment.
The other thing about this group is that the silver back called Bikyingi is so friendly to all of the babies in the group and is also always with them at most of the times. The babies also normally go to their mothers to breast feed and then return to the silver back as soon as they get done with it. This is also the reason why it’s hard to determine the mothers of each baby as all the adult females within the group.
Over half of the mountain gorillas living in Uganda and according to the 2012 November census results that were released by the Uganda Minister of Tourism wildlife and antiquities, the mountain gorilla population is on high increase. There are over 400 gorillas from 302 of 2006 with in Bwindi Impenetrable national Park alone and 80 in Mgahinga Gorilla national park which makes 480 mountain gorillas in Uganda.
There are 36 gorilla families with in Bwindi impenetrable national Park and only 11 of these are habituated and can be accessed by the guests. The migratory group is in Mgahinga frequently moves between Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo and they seem unpredictable. Gorilla habituation is also the process that takes two years and over this time, the gorillas usually get used to human beings and they remain doing their routine activities with in the wilderness even when the humans are present. More so according to Uganda wildlife Authority conservation rules, only eight adults are allowed to track each of the habituated gorilla group each day. This means that there are over 88 gorilla tracking permits each and every day along with the 8 of the Ngahinga family.
These gorillas also move to new places each and every day and will never stay in one place twice. The trek terrain might be different but the time spent is also unpredictable. More so a 2 or 3 hour trek could also be a 6 to 7 hours. Booking a gorilla permit can be done by a preferred tour agency in advance.