LULENGO

LULENGO

Gorilla Family

LULENGO

11 MEMBERS: LAST UPDATED 22/02/2022

Lulengo group ranges between Bikenga and Jomba areas of Virunga National Park in DRC. Lulengo group is led by the dominant Silverback Lulengo. Initially known as Rugabo, the group’s habituation started in 1985 with the Silverback Rugabo as the group head. Unfortunately, Rugabo and 2 other females were brutally shot dead in 1994 in Jomba. Related to this incident, Mvuyekure a juvenile then was carried away by poachers with the aim of selling him off in Uganda. Fortunately, Mvuyekure was rescued, and the poachers were arrested and imprisoned. So, following the death of Rugabo, his son Lulengo took over leadership of the group which was composed of 12 individuals at the time. A couple of interactions that saw to the transfer of some individuals from Lulengo to other groups was witnessed, for instance; from 1998 Lulengo interacted several times with Mapuwa and Rugendo groups and a good number of his members crossed to these groups. Today Lulengo group is composed of 11 individuals including 1 Silverback, 1 Blackback, 3 Adult females, 2 Sub-adults, 2 Juveniles and 2 Infants.

  • 1

    Silverbacks

  • 3

    Adult females

  • 1

    Blackbacks

  • 2

    Sub-adult females

  • 2

    Juveniles

  • 2

    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).

Virunga National Park

Virunga National Park

Located in the Albertine Rift Valley in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Virunga National Park is Africa’s most biodiverse protected area that protects 1/3 of the wild mountain gorillas, over one thousand species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

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