Its great conservation news upon hearing that Christmas Family in Bwindi National Park has received a new born baby. Congratulation songs must give a vibe in commemoration of efforts rendered by great zoologists (primatologists) include Gorge Schaller and Diana Fossey who worked earnestly to ensure that mountain gorilla have another brighter day.

Christmas gorilla family is among the lately fully habituated gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park particularly subscribing to Nkuringo sector southwestern of the park. Christmas family was opened for trekker in 2018 adding up to 3 gorilla families within the sector.

On January 20, 2022 Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) ecstatically announced the birth of the new in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and this is the first image of the new baby captured by our team in the wild. The baby was born to an adult female gorilla called Nyabwoba of Christmas family. UWA confirmed that both the mother and the baby were in a perfect health condition.

This new individuals sums the total number of gorilla individuals in family from 6 to 7 which is vital score as far as this delicate population increase is concerned.

Interesting about gorillas is that these are only endangered species which are experience a tremendous increase in the wild. Before 1990s, in the wild was remaining only about 300 species, but due to conservation efforts deployed the population has sharply amplified to over 1060 mountain gorillas in the wild as per latest gorilla census of 2019.

For this reason International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) removed Mountain gorillas from the red list of critically endangered species adjusted it to just endangered species. Not like other wild species can be relocated to increase to affect their number in a particular place, gorilla’s increase of individuals is only impacted through the natural giving birth by the species.

In Uganda, mountain gorillas are only located in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga gorilla National park which are positioned in the array of great Kigezi region. Mgahinga only avails limited daily chances to only 8 trekkers. Bwindi crowns it all with highest chances of seeing gorillas in their natural habitants with 19 fully habituated gorilla families available for trekking in the 4 sectors.

There are several fully Habituated gorilla families in their sectors in Uganda include;

•  Nkuringo sectors which hosts 3 habituated gorilla groups including Christmas, Bushoho and Nkuringo.
• Ruhija sector has 4 habituated gorilla families of Kyaguliro, Mukiza, Oruzogo and Butikura.
• Rushaga sector hosts 5 habituated gorilla family among which include Nshongi, Mishaya, Kahungye, Busingye and Bweza. Rushaga sector is the only sector where one can have a chance to undertake gorilla habituation process and spend the rest of the day with the gorillas.
• Buhoma sector was the first sector to offer gorilla trekking opportunities in the country. The sector is available for trekker who don’t wish for the extreme jungle hunt for the species. Buhoma has 5 habituated gorilla families among which include; Mubara, Habinyanja, Rushegura, Muyambi and Katwe.

With the Mgahinga Gorilla Natonal Park, there is only one habituated gorilla family; Nyakagezi habituated gorilla family of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.  From the two gorilla forests (parks) Uganda hosts the highest concentration of mountain gorillas in the world, as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest along hosts the over half of the world’s mountain gorillas.