On Monday September 10th, Volcanoes National Park trackers found the lifeless body of silver back Kwitonda, the
dominant silver back of Kwitonda group, some distance from his group. He had
been missing from his group since August 30, and despite daily efforts to
locate him in the thick forest, his body was not found until 10 days later.
Over the last several years the aging silver back, estimated to be about 40
years old, had been showing signs of fading health and was losing ground to the
three younger silver backs in the group, Akarevuro, Kigoma and Magumu.
Originally formed in Virunga National Park in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kwitonda group migrated to Rwanda in 2003 to
escape pressure from other groups. The group settled in the area between Mt.
Sabyinyo and Mt. Gahinga, and is now comprised of 23 family
members. Kwitonda quickly became a popular group for tourists to visit.
The silver back was famous for his relaxed attitude towards humans and his many
babies.
Porters carried Kwitonda’s body out of the forest
so that the Gorilla Doctors could perform a post mortem exam. Because of the
degree of decomposition, it was not possible to determine the cause of death,
but our pathologist will further analyze the tissue samples in the coming
months.
Akarevuro new leader of Kwitonda group
Silver back Akarevuro is
the new leader of Kwitonda group. He has assumed leadership of the group but
the other silver backs, especially Kigoma, may challenge his authority. We’ll be
sure to report on any major changes in the group.
No comments:
Post a Comment