Gorilla gazette - Issue 7

Welcome to Gorilla gazette!

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

Issue 7: April 2022

Well, hello again. Yes, we have met before. I am Kabukojo, the Silverback from the Rushegura family, and I headlined in Gorilla Gazettes Nos 1 and 2. In this photo I am talking to my youngster. And, we still haven’t decided on this little one’s name, or should I say “they” haven’t. Our children know whom we want, when we call them, but the “powers that be” in the Uganda Wildlife Authority haven’t yet decided.

I thought you’d like to see what the Impenetrable Forest, where we live, is like. This photo is taken from Nkuringo, on the edge of the southern sector. In the distance, you can see volcanoes which are on the borders of Uganda and Rwanda. They are part of a range of eight in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC. One of them, Mount Nyiragongo in DRC, erupted in May 2021. Of course, we didn’t see it as we live the other (Buhoma) side of Bwindi, but if you had been taking photos in Nkuringo with a good camera, you would see the flames.

It's still the rainy season, here, which means that there is plenty of water in Nkuringo and also in Bwindi. It will last until late May. Whatever season it is, isn’t too much of a problem for us as we, gorillas, eat young leaves that have plenty of moisture in them. In the rainy season the women in Nkuringo are happy that they don’t have to trek down and up the mountain to fetch water. They use the water from the two water tanks, provided by Commat, which fill up again very quickly when it’s rainy with the water coming off the roofs. They are hoping that Commat will be able to raise more money to buy another water tank, as they need many more for water to last longer in the dry season.  

Can you imagine… In the dry season children even have to take water to school or might be kept out of school to collect water for the home. 

As you can see in this short video, Water is life

The good news for the Rushegura family is that we have another little one in the family, born in the afternoon of 1 April 2022, bringing the total to 13 members. So congratulations to Nyabukye, the proud mother. She’s only young mother, between 12 and 16 years old. Now, I know you will find the following pic of Nyabukye a bit scary. She has red teeth because she has just cleaned her baby, who was only hours old, and she looks as if she’s snarling because she wants everyone to stay away. 

When one of our wives is about to give birth, the whole family stays in one place for a number of days. The rangers and vets know to keep away and to keep everyone else away. Normally the vets come to check on us every week, which is very different from the health workers who go to Nkuringo much less often. Our mothers can give birth with the family in the area, while the Nkuringo women have to go with a Maternity Waiting Home a month in advance of the birth to avoid emergencies. And, as you saw in the last Gorilla Gazette, it’s no fun for them being carried down the muddy mountain. Sometimes, life is easier for a female gorilla than it is for the women and children in Nkuringo.

Please help us support the women and their families in Nkuringo. 

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