In memory of Nkuringo the gorilla which protected others
Jun 01, 2008
NKURINGO was a gorilla in the twilight of his life. At 50, Nkuringo was wounded by old age. He was a symbol of strength that helped him become the king of the 17 gorillas. At the time of his death, he walked lazily, had lost most of his teeth and ate less often.
By Gerald Tenywa
NKURINGO was a gorilla in the twilight of his life. At 50, Nkuringo was wounded by old age. He was a symbol of strength that helped him become the king of the 17 gorillas. At the time of his death, he walked lazily, had lost most of his teeth and ate less often.
James Byamukama of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) says: “Even the little food that was getting into the stomach was being eaten by parasites.â€
Nkuringo retreated to the back yet silver backed mature males are supposed to be at the centre and show direction to their colleagues and beat other wild gorillas off their territory.
He was fast-running out of steam that was needed to steer across any adversaries facing the group. Two weeks ago, Nkuringo was found dead.
A group of trackers that had mounted a search for four days after he was reported missing at the edge of Bwindi impenetrable national park reported to the the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
“With the life expectancy of gorillas estimated between 50 and 60 years, Nkuringo had become weak,†says Byamukama. “It was time for him to go.â€
His passing was peaceful because his rivals never threw him out of the group, thanks to intervention of Safari, the new king of the group.
“There were many attempts by two young gorillas to take over power,†says Byamukama.
But their coup failed as Safari, who respected Nkuringo, opposed the plotters and fought to protect Mzee who had been at the helm of power since the gorillas were habituated for tourism a decade ago.
After failing to take over leadership, the two gorillas, Africa and Jikingi, went into exile in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
The renegades are now leading lonely lives, hoping to get wives from other groups or they will probably return one day to fight Safari who has a firm control over the group.
In his good old days, Nkuringo used the last pint of strength to beat the resistance of silver back known as Champion in 1999. Champion fled and was living alone until his demise early this year.
The trackers who were searching for Nkuringo found a female gorilla, Kasotola, with a baby. “It is a big blessing because the 18-member group remains unchanged in number though Nkuringo has departed,†says Byamukama.
Dr. Arthur Mugisha, a former executive head of UWA, says Nkuringo has departed at a time his group is moving closer to the human settlements.
Gorillas eat leaves of trees, especially from shrubs that are soft. However, Nkuringo’s group had strayed to the villages in Nteko parish, Kisoro district where they crunched plants such as bananas and eucalyptus trees.
When the group was habituated for gorilla tourism, they became friendlier to human beings and now stay more on their land than in the thickets of Bwindi.
In a bid to create peace with the owners of the land, the wildlife authority and IGCP organised and bought a strip of land measuring 12km by 350 metres from the communities.
But the gorillas have moved further and graze on people’s land again. This being a potential source of conflict, UWA and its partners, the Africa Wildlife Foundation, have built an eco-lodge for the communities.
They expect to earn loyalties from the luxury eco-lodge amounting to $100,000 (about sh164m) every year and this is expected to spur development of education, health and roads in this part of the world where such amenities remain a dream.
“We will create an incentive for people to protect the few remaining gorillas,†says Mark Mwine, an enterprise officer of IGCP.
The remaining 720 gorillas are categorised as endangered animals and conservationists fear they will become extinct if nothing is done to protect them and their habitats.
Bwindi houses half the gorilla population.
NKURINGO was a gorilla in the twilight of his life. At 50, Nkuringo was wounded by old age. He was a symbol of strength that helped him become the king of the 17 gorillas. At the time of his death, he walked lazily, had lost most of his teeth and ate less often.
James Byamukama of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) says: “Even the little food that was getting into the stomach was being eaten by parasites.â€
Nkuringo retreated to the back yet silver backed mature males are supposed to be at the centre and show direction to their colleagues and beat other wild gorillas off their territory.
He was fast-running out of steam that was needed to steer across any adversaries facing the group. Two weeks ago, Nkuringo was found dead.
A group of trackers that had mounted a search for four days after he was reported missing at the edge of Bwindi impenetrable national park reported to the the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
“With the life expectancy of gorillas estimated between 50 and 60 years, Nkuringo had become weak,†says Byamukama. “It was time for him to go.â€
His passing was peaceful because his rivals never threw him out of the group, thanks to intervention of Safari, the new king of the group.
“There were many attempts by two young gorillas to take over power,†says Byamukama.
But their coup failed as Safari, who respected Nkuringo, opposed the plotters and fought to protect Mzee who had been at the helm of power since the gorillas were habituated for tourism a decade ago.
After failing to take over leadership, the two gorillas, Africa and Jikingi, went into exile in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
The renegades are now leading lonely lives, hoping to get wives from other groups or they will probably return one day to fight Safari who has a firm control over the group.
In his good old days, Nkuringo used the last pint of strength to beat the resistance of silver back known as Champion in 1999. Champion fled and was living alone until his demise early this year.
The trackers who were searching for Nkuringo found a female gorilla, Kasotola, with a baby. “It is a big blessing because the 18-member group remains unchanged in number though Nkuringo has departed,†says Byamukama.
Dr. Arthur Mugisha, a former executive head of UWA, says Nkuringo has departed at a time his group is moving closer to the human settlements.
Gorillas eat leaves of trees, especially from shrubs that are soft. However, Nkuringo’s group had strayed to the villages in Nteko parish, Kisoro district where they crunched plants such as bananas and eucalyptus trees.
When the group was habituated for gorilla tourism, they became friendlier to human beings and now stay more on their land than in the thickets of Bwindi.
In a bid to create peace with the owners of the land, the wildlife authority and IGCP organised and bought a strip of land measuring 12km by 350 metres from the communities.
But the gorillas have moved further and graze on people’s land again. This being a potential source of conflict, UWA and its partners, the Africa Wildlife Foundation, have built an eco-lodge for the communities.
They expect to earn loyalties from the luxury eco-lodge amounting to $100,000 (about sh164m) every year and this is expected to spur development of education, health and roads in this part of the world where such amenities remain a dream.
“We will create an incentive for people to protect the few remaining gorillas,†says Mark Mwine, an enterprise officer of IGCP.
The remaining 720 gorillas are categorised as endangered animals and conservationists fear they will become extinct if nothing is done to protect them and their habitats.
Bwindi houses half the gorilla population.