Bikingi

Bikingi

Gorilla Family

Bikingi

12 Members: Last updated 22/02/2022


Bikingi group is found in Rushaga tourism sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The group is currently led by Bikingi a former solitary male following the death of the dominant Silverback Bikingi on 9th June 2018. According to Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area Chief Park Warden-Nelson Guma, the unknown wild Silverback that killed the lead Silverback and took over leadership was as well named Bikingi to keep the group’s identity that derived its name from the original Bikingi Silverback. Bikingi died after a fight with a solitary male in Bikingi area. The duo had had a series of fights before and this was the climax of them. Rangers suspect that the solitary male had interest in the leadership of the group. After the death of the dominant Silverback Bikingi all the group members dispersed and some joined other groups, for instance, about 7 individuals joined Kahungye group. However, a close search was done and 9 members including the solitary male were found.  Since then, the group has registered births bringing the number of individuals to 11, these include 2 Silverbacks, 5 Adult females, 1 Juvenile and 4 Infants.  Habituation of Bikingi gorilla group commenced in early 2012 as a follow-up exercise of the dispersing members of the disintegrated Mishaya group. Indeed, several members of the former Mishaya group were located in the group alongside other non-habituated members and later-on declared for habituation to keep close monitoring of the formerly habituated members.

  • 2

    Silverbacks

  • 5

    Adult females

  • 0

    Blackbacks

  • 0

    Sub-adult females

  • 1

    Juveniles

  • 4

    Infants

About mountain gorillas

The eastern gorilla is a large hominid with a large head, broad chest, and long arms. It has a flat nose with large nostrils. The face, hands, feet and breast are bald. The fur is mainly black, but adult males have a silvery “saddle” on their back. When the gorilla gets older, the hair on the saddle of the back becomes white, much like the gray hair of elderly people. This is why the older males are called silverbacks. Grauer’s gorilla has a shorter, thicker, deep black fur, while the mountain gorilla has a more bluish color. The mountain gorilla is slightly smaller and lighter than Grauer’s gorilla, but still larger and heavier than the western lowland gorilla and the Cross River gorilla. Males are much larger than females. A full-grown male eastern gorilla typically weighs 140–205.5 kg (309–453 lb) and stands 1.7 m (5.6 ft) upright.

The goal of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) is to ensure the conservation of mountain gorillas and their regional afromontane forest habitat in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Situated in South-Western Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a large primeval forest at the edge of the Albertine Rift and the western branch of the East African Rift, at elevations ranging from 1,160 to 2,607 metres. The majestic forest is home to half of the world's population of mountain gorillas.