The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda

This report details the progress of Conservation Through Public Health's project, "The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078" on GlobalGiving. The previous report was submitted in November 2023, at which time the project had received 405 donations totaling $23,872.96. As of the present, the project has received 449 donations, amounting to $31,819.62 of its $50,000 funding target.

What we have done.

Gorilla Health Monitoring

This quarter, our Wildlife Health and Laboratory Technicians, Annaclet Ampeire and Laurence Muruhuura, continued their routine gorilla health monitoring in collaboration with Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers and Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi. They collected 618 gorilla fecal samples from the gorilla nests of all 26 habituated gorilla groups in Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA). These samples were preserved and analyzed at the Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Center to detect diseases that gorillas may have contracted from neighboring humans or animals.

The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi continued to play a critical role in herding mountain gorillas and other wildlife back into the forest when they came out of the park to forage in people's gardens. In January 2024, for example, Posho gorilla family in the Southern Sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park raided a banana plantation at 5:00 AM. Our Wildlife Health and Laboratory Technician, Annaclet Ampeire, and Gorilla Guardian, Mr. Geoffrey Barigara, intervened, successfully herding the family back into the forest.

In February 2024, Our Wildlife Health and Laboratory Technician, Laurence Muruhuura, visited Rushegura, Mubare, Muyambi, and Katwe gorilla families in Buhoma Sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Tracking these groups was difficult due to the steep hill of Rubona Hill where they were foraging at the time. It was also a fruiting season, and the gorillas were feeding from the top of the tree canopies, making it challenging to find their trails and night nests to collect fecal samples. However, with the help of UWA trackers, Laurence managed to locate the groups after long hours of searching. All members were healthy and feeding well.

Other updates

Gorilla interactions

In terms of gorilla group interactions, this quarter saw some interactions among and within gorilla families. Bitukura gorilla family in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is one of the groups habituated for research purposes, had an interaction where black back Rungo's left part of the mouth was injured. He fought with the lead silverback, Mugisha. Rungo is believed to be the possible heir of the Bitukura gorilla family, which may be the reason for his frequent fights with Mugisha.

Furthermore, Silverback Gwigi split from Kahungye gorilla family, creating his group named after him "Gwigi," which means "door" in the local language Rukiga. Silverback Kanywani also separated from Rushegura gorilla family, creating his group, Kanywani, which means "friend" in Rukiga. 

Gorilla birth

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers sighted a new baby gorilla in the Bikingi family on February 5, 2024, born to adult female Mucecuru in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This new addition brings the number of individuals in the Bikingi family to nine individuals. We congratulate Silverback Kaharata, the father, Mucecuru, the mother, and the entire Bikingi gorilla family on the gift of a baby gorilla. s

We appreciate your generous support which has made this work possible.

Links:

• Visit our website to learn more about our work