Park rangers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have once again made a joyful announcement: a set of twin mountain gorillas, one male and one female have been born into the Baraka family troop.
This is the second set of twins spotted in the Virunga National Park in just three months. In January, rangers found a pair of twin males born to a female named Mafuko in the Bageni family. Those babies are now 11 weeks old and doing well.
Twin mountain gorillas are a rare occurrence. It happens in less than one percent of births and it doesn’t come on a silver plate. Raising two babies at once puts extra strain on the mother, so rangers are keeping a close eye on the new twins to help them survive the risky first few months.
The Baraka troop has 19 gorillas that live in the high misty forests of the Virunga mountains. These gorillas face many dangers, including disease, injuries, and sometimes attacks from other gorillas. About one in every four gorilla babies do not make it to adulthood.
Park officials say twin births often happen when the mother is strong and healthy. They believe the recent twins are a good sign that years of careful conservation work is helping the population grow, even with ongoing conflict in the region.
Jacques Katutu, head of gorilla monitoring at Virunga, called the two twin births in such a short time an “extraordinary event.” He said it shows that dedicated conservation efforts are working despite the difficult situation in eastern Congo.
Veterinary teams have played a big part in saving these mountain gorillas. Groups like Gorilla Doctors have treated many animals hurt by poacher traps and other human threats. Experts say this kind of medical help has been responsible for half of the population increase in recent years.
In the 1970s, there were only about 250 mountain gorillas left in the world, and many feared they would disappear forever. However, due to strong conservation work across the three countries that host the mountain gorillas, their numbers surpassed 1,000 by 2018.
The species was moved from critically endangered to endangered status on the IUCN List.
The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) a subspecies of the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei), lives in two distinct populations in Africa; the Virunga Massif and Bwindi Forest. The Virunga National Park is part of the Virunga massif, 50 miles (80 km) stretch of volcanic ranges along the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Despite the conservation efforts, protecting the mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park remains a challenging work. More than 220 rangers have been killed in Virunga over the past 20 years because of rebel groups and bandits operating in the area.
The park sits in a volatile region in Eastern DR Congo which experiences on and off wars. Currently the park is under the control of the M23 rebels. Since April 2024, gorilla tourism was suspended in the park and there are reduced patrols to curb poaching and other illegal activities done in the vast national park.
Recently Park authorities reported incidents of poaching and a young gorilla named Fazil was found caught in a poacher’s trap.
The director of the park Emmanuel de Merode however assures the public that the mountain gorillas are faring extraordinarily well.
The new twins bring fresh hope for the future of these gentle giants.
