Names given to baby gorillas in Rwanda and their Meaning

Just a few days ago, Rwanda concluded this year’s Kwita Izina ceremony and this was the 12^th celebration since inauguration in. This annual event was presided over by the president the republic of Rwanda President Paul Kagame and this year, they name 22 baby gorillas  during the ceremony which took place in Musanze district which is in the northern province and at the foot of the famous  volcanic mountains.

This event attracted so many thousands of tourists, there were conservationists and foreign diplomats as well as members of diplomatic corps who came in from all around the globe. This Kwita Izina event is intended to promote conservation programs, protect East Africa’s really endangered mountain gorillas and they use the that same tourism revenues collected during the event. Also, this event helps in the monitoring of mountain gorillas in the jungle to an extent that you will know the rate at which they are increasing or how many die in a year.

Belise Kaliza who is Rwanda Development Board’s chief tourism officer expressed his pride over what Rwanda has managed to achieve which is in terms of the tourism revenue collected every other year. Through the revenue sharing scheme that was set up to help the local people living around national parks, Rwanda has managed to upgrade its conservation measures.

The Kwita Izina ceremony was inspired by the Rwandan tradition of naming children almost immediately after their birth so they thought this can also apply to the mountain gorillas. Today therefore, it is not only about the naming of the gorillas but also about remembering all development that have to be done for the good of the environment. According to President Paul Kagame, when the environment is under protection that mean human race is taking good care of themselves especially since the environment plays a big role in the survival of human beings. He also said that there can never be trade-off between the country’s economic growths and protecting the environment as they complement each other.

This year, records show that there is an increase in the gorilla population 26.3% from the time Kwita Izina ceremony was introduced. The actual number of mountain gorillas living in that forest will be revealed next year after a general census has been done in the whole Virunga Massif. The last census was done in 2010 and reports indicated that there were about 480 which is a 26.3% growth when compared to the 380 animals which were in the jungle in 2003.

Gorilla related activities in Rwanda such as Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Safaris contribute 90% of all the revenues that is collected from the country’s national parks. Names introduced during this year’s celebrations include;

Following the success f this event, President Kagame proposed to the tourism and conservation officials to consider doing the same for the lions and in that way emphasize the importance of lions to Rwanda’s tourism sector. This is a good idea especially since Rwanda has just reintroduced lions into Akagera, started with the seven which were lions from into the Akagera National Park.  Francis Gatare who is the CEO of RDB said the from the seven, three little ones were born in May 2016 and more birth were recorded after that which means the number has doubled which is great news.

So it is possible that celebrating the birth and naming lions’ cubs will be a great step in the lion restoration.

For more information about Gorilla Trekking in Uganda, please visit gorillasafarirwanda.com