Gorilla groups in Virunga National Park in Congo
- Kabirizi Gorilla group
- Humba Gorilla Group
- Rugendo Gorilla Group
- Mapuwa Gorilla Group
- Lulengo Gorilla Group
- Munyaga Gorilla Group
- Nyakamwe Gorilla Group
- Bageni Gorilla Group
Kabirizi Gorilla group:
Gorilla groups and families in Virunga National Park. This group is led by Kabirizi the powerful but humble silverback. They are found in the Bukima section near Goma. The group gets its name from the Director of ICCN who died in a traffic accident. This Congo gorilla group was initially known as the “Ndungutse” group after Ndungutse the dominant silverback. Ndungustse replaced his father Zunguruka who died of old age. Unfortunately Ndungutse was shot dead in 1997 after being caught in crossfire between government and Rwandan rebel forces. These events and others like infighting and rivalry paved way for Kabirizi a wild gorilla to take over the group. However a new young but ambitious silverback Masibo has now emerged and threatens to undermine Kabirizis leadership. You can read about how the allocation of gorilla groups is done.
Rugendo Gorilla Group:
Gorilla groups in Congo. This group is named after its former great leader Rugendo but is now led by silverback Bukima originally from the Buhanga group. Bukima now leads one of the oldest (1989) habituated gorilla groups in the park. Although the group now contains 9 members, it was not always so. There have been great changes in the group, especially after Rugendo the former leader fought his son Humba (leader of Humba group). The group had 18 memebrs but Humba left with 10 members after the fight. Rugendo remained with 8 members but was killed during clashes between the Congolese army and a Rwandan rebel group. Rugendo is credited for fathering many of the great silverbacks who went on to lead their own groups in the park.
Mapuwa Gorilla Group:
The Mapuwa group is composed of 22 individuals and is located in Jomba near the border with Uganda. Mvuyekure currently leads this group after taking over from Mapuwa the son of Rugendo. Mapuwa had left his father Rugendo with two females Mafaze and Jicho to start his own family under difficult hurdles. Mapuwa had to fight frequently to protect his family but also to acquire new members to his group. He had to deal with Pilipili, a strong silverback in the park to remain the dominant silverback. Apart from the leadership of Mapuwa and now Mvuyekure, the group has also grown because of new births. The group has 2 other silverbacks, 4 juveniles and 5 babies.
Lulengo Gorilla Group:
This group has 9 members and is now led by Lulengo the dominant silverback. The group can be found in the Jomba nearing Congo’s border with Uganda. The group has an interesting and long history since it was habituated. The group was known as Musekura before it was changed to Lulengo the current silverback and also in memory of a park Director who lost his life to a land mine. Lulengo came to lead the group after his father Rugabo (of the Rugabo group) was killed by poachers. There are 9 members in the Lulengo group.
Munyaga Gorilla Group:
Gasore is the current leader of the group composed of 7 members that includes juveniles and babies. The group was named after its former leader Munyaga who was succeeded by Mawazo and then Gasore the current dominant male. This group was the last to be discovered by park wardens in 2008. The Munyaga group resides in the Bukima sector of the park and is loved by visitors because of the female Bilali, her set of twins and Kadogo the bald headed silverback.
Nyakamwe Gorilla Group:
Gorilla families in Congo.
Bageni Gorilla Group:
The Bageni group contains 26 individuals and is the largest group in the park.
Social Dynamics and Group Fission in Virunga Mountain Gorillas
The social structure of mountain gorillas is based on harems which are composed of one or more males and are polygynous, the harems being led by a dominant silverback who attains full physical maturity between 12 and 15 years of age.
Female gorillas begin their first natal dispersal between the ages of six and eight, moving into neighbouring breeding groups or joining lone silverbacks in order to avoid inbreeding depression throughout the population.
Approximately 40 percent of mountain gorilla social units in the Virunga Massif contain multiple adult silverbacks, where subordinate males trade subordinate mating access for collective defense against outside challengers.
What causes stable groups of gorillas to experience sudden fission events after having remained cohesive for years?
Group fission takes place when dominant silverbacks that are subordinates gain enough reproductive advantage so as to be able to separate receptive females during aggressive encounters between groups, the frequency of which is 0.8 interactions per month per group.
The death of a dominant leader usually speeds up the breakup of the group, leading the females to quickly move among the neighbouring silverbacks (this is a biological adaptation which reduces the vulnerability of the infants during periods when there is no leader).
From the point of view of management, these demographic changes directly determine the patrolling procedures which the park authorities set up each day.
The habituation teams record the coordinates each day throughout an average annual home range of 15 to 25 square kilometres per group, modifying their monitoring perimeters each time peripheral males start splinter movements.
Long-term research carried out in the field shows that the average duration of reproductive tenure for silverbacks is about 4.7 years, which means that park management personnel have to continually update the demographic records to take into account the changing social hierarchies.
Operational and Environmental Challenges in Virunga
1. Armed Conflict and Security Volatility
The presence of armed militias in the North Kivu province has an immediate effect on the Mikeno gorilla area, which is about 32 kilometres north of Goma.
The Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature has a dedicated group of more than 800 armed rangers who carry out unbroken patrols around the boundary of the 450-square-kilometer gorilla habitat.
Over 200 park rangers have died since 1996 in armed encounters when defending the gorillas’ home ranges from insurgent groups who occupy the surrounding Virunga volcanic massif.
2. Zoonotic Disease Transmission
Mountain gorillas share approximately 98 per cent of their genetic material with humans, which makes habituated groups particularly susceptible to airborne human respiratory pathogens.
The field veterinarians employed by Gorilla Doctors carry out emergency interventions in the forest to give gorillas showing acute respiratory symptoms antibiotics and anti-inflammatory treatments.
The park’s rules state that both rangers and visitors must remain at least 7 metres away from all gorillas and have to wear medical-grade face coverings (since the field teams strictly enforce this protocol in order to protect infant survival rates).
3. Snares and Agricultural Habitat Encroachment
What do anti-poaching units do to reduce the density of snares throughout overlapping family home ranges?
Thousands of unselective wire snares are set by local hunters who intended them for the black-fronted duiker (Cephalophus nigrifrons), as a result of which gorilla limbs are caught and suffer severe tissue necrosis.
Each month anti-poaching units cover hundreds of square kilometers and each year seize more than 500 illegal wire snares along the boundary wall next to the dense agricultural settlements which house over 100,000 community residents.