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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga

Humba - King of the Jungle

7 Dec 2008 Filed under (Humba Family) by Pierre @ 4:27 pm

This morning I went with Ranger Kadega to do another count of the Humba group. We found the family at about noon on the top of a big hill known as Rungu. From there Humba’s family could see for miles around, including Rumangabo HQ and Rutshuru in the distance. The Silverback Humba spent a lot of time looking towards the horizon, playing the part of “King of the Jungle” perfectly.

In the meantime, kid brothers Semakuba and Matembela spent their time wrestling with full energy. Sometimes it was difficult to figure out whose foot/hand was whose! Semakuba is obviously fond of his kid brother and didn’t beat him up too much…

Many Rangers love to visit the Humba family as you know. The family has the same energy as Humba himself - calm, relaxed and safe.

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17 Responses to “Humba - King of the Jungle”

  1. pamme pamme/shell beach, ca Says: 7 Dec 2008

    Awesome pics!

  2. lisah lisah Says: 7 Dec 2008

    Too cute! Alittle rest after all the rough and tumble. Thanks for sharing these photos. Great job!

  3. lisah lisah Says: 7 Dec 2008

    Oh by the way, I love the name links. I could do this all day…..just sipping some coffee and learning about all the gorillas. : )

  4. lisah lisah Says: 7 Dec 2008

    You have Semakuba listed as a female on the profile, but in the post you say that Semakuba and Matembela are kid brothers?

  5. sheryl, washington, dc sheryl, washington, dc Says: 7 Dec 2008

    I wonder if Humba has been scanning the horizon often for the past 15 months, just to protect his family? Great pics, Pierre and, like Lisa, I’m enjoying the profile links.

    s.

  6. irisk irisk Says: 7 Dec 2008

    Pierre, how amazing that you are able to get near enough to the gorillas to take photos of their hands and feet in such detail. Great photos! Iris

  7. samantha Samantha Says: 7 Dec 2008

    Well spotted Lisa! Semakuba is indeed a female. I shall tell Pierre off when I speak to him. :)

  8. lisah lisah Says: 7 Dec 2008

    LOL! Hey, you guys have created a monster. I’m going to be the gorilla expert before too long! Go easy on Pierre, Sam! LOL!

  9. Theresa Theresa Says: 8 Dec 2008

    I love the name links too! It’s a great way to know the indvidual members better. I am learning so much about the members of the groups and how each group was formed thanks to the profiles of the families. I will hopefully get better at recognizing each one without being told who it is. Of course, I mean by the pictures posted as my noseprint recognition is awful! Great picutres Pierre!

  10. Tristan Tristan Says: 8 Dec 2008

    I am strangely struck by the last image of the foot or hand. Those pitted areas do not seem to be due to a “callus-shedding” process.

    Those crater-like configurations on the foot or hand almost look fungal in nature. It looks one of the big guys has a case of untreated tinea.

    Has anyone ever commented on this phenomenon ?

  11. samantha Samantha Says: 8 Dec 2008

    Hi Tristan. I will ask Dr Jacques or Dr Eddy what they think.

  12. samantha Samantha Says: 8 Dec 2008

    And the possibility to make a holiday donation for mountain gorillas on behalf of a friend or relative is now working. You just enter the donation amount on the donation item sidebar (the one in red) and you will be asked to provide the details (name and address) for the recipient of the card. Let me know if you have any questions!

  13. irisk irisk Says: 8 Dec 2008

    An interesting article on BBC News:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7765379.stm

  14. lisah lisah Says: 8 Dec 2008

    Great article Iris. Thanks for sharing it. : )

  15. Derryth Derryth Says: 8 Dec 2008

    Awesome pictures - thanks so much. They are such beautiful creatures.

  16. Mark Jungbluth, Germany Mark Jungbluth, Germany Says: 8 Dec 2008

    The picture of Humba watching the horizon is AMAZING.

    Is it possible to get this picture as a download in High Quality?

    This would be highly appreciated.

    It is really interesting to learn about the different characters in the Gorilla world. Humba (King of the Virungas) and Titus (King of Bwindi) are definitely among my favourites.

    Mark

  17. samantha Samantha Says: 9 Dec 2008

    hi Mark. please email me at samantha at gorilla dot cd. i dont have it high res right now but when i see pierre on thursday i will get it and bring it down at the weekend to send you.

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