gorilla.cd
Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
Surprises among the sexes
We caught the Humba family in the middle of take a rest the other day. The sun was shining - the gorillas had just finished eating and were dosing in the sun.
I took advantage of the fact that they were not moving much to work with Ranger Yaya to teach him how to identify the individual gorillas. He is progressing very rapidly, along with Sekibibi Bareke, and we hope he will soon be able to name them all. Yaya has come a long way since joining the Ranger force after having been caught as a youngster making charcoal in the forest.
He is the perfect example of poacher turned park warden. But it is important to train others in gorilla identification so that a younger generation is ready to take over from Innocent and myself when the time comes.
Yaya at work
Today I am with my wife celebrating my 46th birthday. I came down from Bukima yesterday to spend this special day with her. This morning however I have been reflecting on how the gorilla census is progressing.
Above all we are very happy to see that so far the gorillas are well and in good health. I notice especially how the younger ones have grown. This really fills me with great joy.
There have also been some surprises. We always thought Kayenga was a male, and now we see that he has a baby - so he is obviously a she! Bonane, who emigrated to Humba’s family from Kabirizi, was also listed as a male. But Jean-Marie Serundori saw him the day before yesterday with a baby, so Bonane is also a SHE. It just goes to show we can make mistakes, as of course we always have to stay 7 meters away from the gorillas.
A team of Rangers has also spotted the Rugendo family near the Bikenge patrol post. A proper identification has yet to be complete, but it appears there are 2 Silverbacks with the group now, who we suspect may have come from the Munyaga family (remember that was the family with all the Silverbacks and 1 female!). We hope to complete the proper identification early next week when Innocent is better and comes back up.
The Mapuwa family has been seen near Jomba patrol post - again we need to id them. And Lulengo - with 8 individuals in his family - has been spotted near Bikenge.
We have yet to catch sight of the Munyaga family and the solitary Ruzirabwoba.
The bad news so far is that we have still not seen Kangugo or Gasusa, both from the Kabirizi family. But we hope they may have emigrated to Rugendo or Lulengo… we shall see.
As you can tell conducting a gorilla census takes time, patience, knowledge… and a little bit of luck.
Innocent by the way is feeling much better after a few days at home and plans to come back up to Bukima at the weekend. We are gradually setting up the camp thanks to Pierre and Eddy - and your donations. I will ask Pierre to post some photos soon.
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25 Responses to “Surprises among the sexes”
Happy Birthday Diddy! Grand news from the forest. Good luck with the rest of the census and well done Yaya for learning so fast! Thanks to everyone for posting so often when you’re all so busy. Take care all.
Oh, Lisa will be surprised to learn that Bonane is a female! That must’ve been a shocker to y’all, eh Diddy? Thanks for the news about the Rugendo family. I’m interested in learning if those two silverbacks have maintained all of the remaining members. They only had one female and she was very young. And thanks for the pics of the Humba family resting. They’re gorgeous.
s.
Thank you for the report. I’ve been anxious to hear about the other gorillas and am so relieved to hear that you have located the Rugendo family. Can’t wait to hear more news. Thank you.
My thoughts exactly Sheryl
I was pretty surprised too I have to say.
Happy Birthday Diddy, It’s great to hear that former ’sinners’ are being integrated into the team there. Please pass on our great respect to Yaya for having made the transition.
lol, lol. You guys are soo funny! lol, lol! Surprise, surprise, surprise! Bonane is a beautiful gorilla, so it’s only fitting that he’s a she. And I guess this answer’s my question on my blog, he/she will never be a silverback in charge of his/her own family, but I bet she’ll be a wonderful Mother! Oh, now I can’t wait to see her baby. When will you name the baby and find out the gender? Oh well, I guess that’s a process in and of itself that could take years. LOL! I love this! I guess Daddy is Humba?
Happy Birthday Diddy! Glad you are enjoying it with your family. I’m right behind you. I’ll be 44 on Dec. 24. And don’t you dare plan on retireing until you’re at least 80, okay? LOL!
I am very proud of Yaya and the decision he has made to be a Ranger and a protector, rather than a poacher and a killer. He is the hope of the future and that is a wonderful thing!
I’m excited, as well, to hear more about the Rugendo family, but weren’t the boys in Rugendo only blackbacks and still somewhat young to be in charge of the family, back when Senkwekwe was killed? When do individuals “officially” turn silverbacks?
You guys are awesome! Keep up the outstanding work and thank you so much for sharing it all with us. I feel very blessed, humbled and honored to be able to read and learn about the gorillas, and it’s all because of your outstanding committment and dedication to these beautiful beings. Thank you so much! Lisa
Happy birthday mate. Thanks for the joyful postings. They are greatly appreciated.
Diddy, I only read your e-mail now and hope it is not too late to wish you a very happy birthday! If you see this only tomorrow, know that I was thinking of you. Iris
Diddy, I meant your post, of course…
Hi Lisa. Diddy now won’t be online til Friday I think. - so I can give this a shot as I am sitting here with Emmanuel. I am not sure the Rangers will ever know who the father of Bonane’s child is because it all depends of course on when she migrated… and 15 months is a long time. The gestation period of gorillas is between 8 to 9 months.
You are right that there was only Mukunda, Baseka and Kongomani in the Rugendo family - the 3 blackbacks. So that is why it will be interesting if a Silverback or 2 have joined the group. Blackbacks become Silverbacks round about the age of 12. It can vary but that is the average.
Hope that helps
And glad you are not disappointed Bonane is a female!
Thanks Samanatha for the info. Yes, it will be interesting to see about the Silverbacks joining the Rugendo group. I wonder if any of the young blackbacks had altercations with the Silverbacks. That will be interesting to see. If so, I hope everyone made it through with just cuts and scrapes!
No, I’m not disappointed that Bonane is female. LOL! Now she has a baby. That’s so wonderful! I do find it interesting regarding who the father may be. In one of Dr. Lucy’s more recent posts on Gorilla Doctors she said the following: “Since I’ve worked here, infanticide has been the outcome every time an infant sired by a male in another group has been born to a newly transferred female.” If Humba is not the father of Bonane’s baby, might he kill her baby? Have you ever known of any cases where a silverback has taken care of a baby that was not his? I guess if any silverback is going to do that, Humba would probably be the guy. Since he’s so mellow! : ) In any case, I’m thrilled Bonane is a Mother and I wish her and the baby nothing but long happy lives in their forest home, being protected by such wonderful Rangers! : ) In fact, I think this just makes her all the more special. : )
Happy birthday Diddy! i hope you had a great day…well done to you and the rangers with the census and for sharing this with us…terribly interesting!
Happy Birthday Diddy! I loved this post. Thanks for the smile it brought to my face. I guess it isn’t easy to tell sometimes who is male and who is female. Since we now have two new babies, I’m glad they weren’t males…LOL.
Tell Innocent it is great to hear he is feeling better. As for the new generation of rangers, they will be just as good with you and Innocent teaching them. Tell Yaya it’s great to have him on the good side! Can’t wait to hear about the others. Am holding thumbs for more babies!
The confusion of boy/girl happens with people too : )
What a great birthday surprise, though! It is nice to have a few more females so that they can continue to have beautiful babies : )
Happy Birthday Diddy!!!!
And, yes, Yaya turning from poacher to protector is a wonderful story! May he continue to inspire others : )
Can somebody please tell me what LOL stands for? Have pity on us Frenchies!
Iris
Hi Iris! As far as I know, LOL stands for ‘ Lots of Laughs’ or ‘Lying On the Floor Laughing’, but I am no expert in these matters!
Hi Brenton! Somehow I get the impression that you are “Laughing out Loud”… sounds good to me! Iris
Iris, I laugh alot, so I’m always typing lol. The one I forget is IMO. I don’t know what that means. Anybody?
Tell Innocent for me.. that pleaseee get better ..because i am waiting. news of RUGENDO group.. and also glad, because . you have news of many groups.. god bless all of you rangers hero of virunga.
Happy Birthday Diddy!!! And what a wonderful present to “discover” two new moms and babies after all this time…gorgeous pictures! My very best to you, and of course to Innocent…so glad to hear he is feeling better! Also, and news of Miza yet???
LOL means “laugh out loud” and IMO means “in my opinion”. The one that got me the most puzzled was AFK. I had to ask my son, who laughed and called me old, what it meant. Imagine how dumb I felt when he said “away from keyboard”. LOL
Thanks Theresa. I’ve never heard of AFK before. Interesting. LOL!
IMO your only as old as you feel. : )
Happy birthday Diddy. It’s wonderful to read all the positive postings again. Best wishes to Innocent and Yaya. Heartfelt thanks to all the rangers and families for their care of these gentle creatures. God bless you all.
Happy Christmas and peaceful 2009 to everyone.
[...] The first major discovery was that Bariyanga is actually a sub-adult male. We have only known this gorilla since last December, when the Rangers re-discovered the Rugendo group after a long absence. On that day we found this new wild gorilla in the group and named it Bariyanga after a Ranger that had recently died. Bariyanga was still not habituated to humans and was thus often difficult to see properly. We thought she was an adult female, but in fact it was a sub-adult male (this is actually not the first time we have had surpises among the sexes). [...]
[...] Then in July 2009 rangers on patrol from the Bikenge Patrol Post reported finding Bariyanga’s body. They were surprised to learn that Bariyanga was in fact a sub-adult male and not a female as had been assumed. Bariyanga had not yet been habituated to humans and so it had been impossible to observe him closely enough to be sure of his sex. This is not the only time we have had surpises among the sexes). [...]