Rwanda’s Twin Baby Gorillas

Two gorillas born during the same birthing session are called twins. The twins of the Hirwa Gorilla family in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park are closely watched by park authorities.

Rwanda’s top tourist destination is its mountain gorillas, and visitors frequently come to observe the baby gorillas in the Hirwa Gorilla Family. It should be made very obvious that the highlight of the Rwandan tracking safari is gazing into the eyes of a baby gorilla. The IUCN has classified the mountain gorilla as critically endangered, and population threats have increased due to habitat degradation and increased human population.

Twins are exceedingly rare in the mountain gorilla population, and the recent arrivals in Volcanoes National Park represent only the fifth known set of twins for Rwandan gorillas. The UK-based nonprofit organization, the Gorilla Organization, estimates that there are less than 800 mountain gorillas left in the wild. If more gorillas give birth to twins, Rwanda will become wealthier because there will be more of these gentle giants, which makes them even more beautiful.

According to the organization, the two were born on February 3 to Kabatwa, a gorilla belonging to the Hirwa tribe, who was proving to be a wonderful mother. “We were all excited to hear the news from rangers because it is very rare to hear of mountain gorilla twins,” said Emmanuel Bugingo, the Gorilla Organization’s program manager in Rwanda.The twins, who are males, have a bright future ahead of them.

It is thought that on February 3, 2011, Rwanda’s mountain gorillas gave birth to their sixth set of twins in history. The Gorilla Organization, a conservation organization, states that the last known birth of mountain gorilla twins occurred in 2004.

Twins provide a unique opportunity for a double gain in a single birth, as gorilla moms typically only give birth to one child every four years or so, which is one of the reasons why they are so fragile. At a 2005 gorilla naming ceremony, President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda gave the names Byishimo and Impano to the final pair of mountain gorilla twins, who were born in 2004.

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is the only other place where mountain gorillas can be found, and researchers are thinking about classifying the few hundred gorillas that still live there as a subspecies.