Baby boom in Uganda's wilderness

 A fifth baby has been born in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in less than two months.
In the same period, also giraffes and rhinos have added to their progeny.

"The Rushegura gorilla family in Bwindi on August 31 welcomed yet another baby gorilla delivered by Ruterana, increasing the family membership to 18, taking the tally of new births to five, in just six weeks," the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) statement read.

This is the third offspring for 18-year-old Ruterana. She has added to four other births that occurred within the last six weeks in Bwindi.

On August 27, this year, UWA received a new baby gorilla delivered by Kibande of the  Rushegura gorilla family in Buhoma sector of Bwindi.

Kibande's new birth marks her fifth surviving offspring and raises the Rushegura family size to 17 members.

Kibande's first born offspring is a mature male named Karembezi. Born on March 1, 2001, he is the second in command of the Rushegura family.

OTHER GORILLA BABIES
Baby Nyampazi of the Mubare family was born on July 22 this year. Katoto of Oruzogo was delivered on July 25, this year and one baby that is yet to be named in Busingye family on July 28.

"We at Bwindi and UWA at large continue to rejoice in these and other indicators of positive conservation efforts, despite the COVID-19 crisis," UWA stated.

LAKE MBURO GIRAFFES DOUBLE
Meanwhile, the giraffes in Lake Mburo National Park located about 300 kilometres away from Bwindi are playing catch up with the Mountain Gorillas. A calf born at Lake Mburo last week has since joined the main herd.

The baby born to Carolyn, aka Contestable, has been described as a miracle by some sources at the park, since she had not shown any signs of being pregnant.

"She has got male features, which had left us wondering if she had hormonal imbalances. She beats the odds by giving us a calf," reads a post on UWA site.This brings the number in Lake Mburo National Park to 31.

In 2015, UWA introduced 15 giraffes from Murchison Falls National Park into Lake Mburo National Park. They included four males and 11 females.

Lake Mburo chief warden Edward Asalu said since the re-introduction, the population has almost doubled, with 29 giraffes living in the park. He said nine babies were all born this year.