The following report is from Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge in Rwanda, reporting on the Gorilla groups that can be visited. For details on visiting them yourself contact us for full details or visit our main site.
In Volcanoes National Park, with bamboo continuing to shoot in the Virunga Forest, gorillas continued to feast on this seasonal food resource and most gorilla groups did not move very much. This resulted in mostly shorter and easier treks for the visitors.
In the habituated gorilla groups monitored daily by researchers of Karisoke Research Station, the death of silverback Titus on 14 September continued to have knock on effects during the last half of September and early October. The old female Tuck left the group and spent most of her time alone, though she regularly approached group, she did not have much contact with it. Tragically Ihumure, a young, 4 years old infant who had been actively protected by Titus was found dead during the weeks following the death of the silverback gorilla. Post mortem examination revealed that the gorilla suffered from an internal fracture – possibly an injury made during an interaction with another gorilla group during the last few weeks of Titus’s life, when the group kept moving much more than normal. Karisoke researchers are convinced however that sentimental depression following the death of his protector also explains the rapid decline of the young gorilla, a testament to how sensitive gorilla families are. The other gorilla families are doing well and we will continue to report on their progress.
