Gorilla Gazette - Issue 1

Welcome to Gorilla gazette!

Postings from the gorilla inhabitants of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in Western Uganda.

Issue 1 : July 2021

Hello, my name is Kabukojo…

Some of you may have seen previous correspondence by my friend, Mark, who is from a different group. Now it’s my turn:

I am a silverback. Kazani, Mivuyo and Nyamivumbi are female members of my group. There are also two little ones, aged four months and a year, but they don’t yet have names. We are members of the Rushegura group and we live in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. 

Bwindi is huge, and our part is known as Buhoma. A couple of years ago, Marianne, the Director of Commat (the Commonwealth Medical Trust) came to visit us and to enjoy being in the forest. (Mind you, she didn’t enjoy the wasps that flew out to greet her when she reached us but, as she found out, they are harmless.) We were having lunch at the time. In general we are vegetarians, though we do occasionally enjoy some ants, and we move around in the area where we live to find tasty young leaves. Here you can see that my friend, Mucunguzi, whose group is named after him, has found something else that is very tasty up the tree and he’s sharing it with his wife, Munini, below. Munini has a baby who is now 2 ½ years old.

We did, of course, put on a show for our small group of visitors. They always want to see “the silverback”, so I obliged and turned around so they could get “the right photo”. One of our group shinned up a tree and the babies showed off their agility and got the anticipated “oohs and aarhs”.

It was Stephen, one of the rangers, who brought the group to see us. We rely on people like Stephen, who lives in the village of Nkuringo, to keep us safe and brings our visitors. While he’s in the forest, the women in the village are having to go for two hours down the mountain in the dry season to get water and then two hours up again, having to keep their children out of school to help. Now I can’t imagine what the females in my group would say to me, if they had to do the same!

Fortunately, Commat has raised funds for two water tanks which collects water off the roofs when it rains. The water from the tanks is shared among the villagers, meaning fewer trips for the women and children. More tanks are needed but as you would say, “It’s a step in the right direction”.

Writing this gazette is hard work for gorillas, even silverbacks, so I will sign off for now. Please check back for my next missive – it will be announced here. In the meantime, please support Commat in helping the villagers, who help us.

Care to donate? 

Please consider making a donation to Commat:

THE COMMONWEALTH MEDICAL TRUST
Lloyds Bank plc
SORT CODE: 30-94-97
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 00988751
IBAN: GB40LOYD30949700988751
BIC: LOYDGB21029

For additional options please contact us directly at gorillas@commat.org