Katungi; an 18 Months Twin Gorilla from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park has died. Katungi had been discovered sick by the Bwindi Forest Gorilla Trackers and had all along been put under a watchful eye and attention. ‘Friend a Gorilla’ website reports.
The Gorilla trackers in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest who made a thorough check through, discovered Katungi who has been one of the gorillas living among the Nkuringo group of gorillas lying about 50 metres away from its family motionless.
Doctors from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project and a team of trackers attempted to revive the unconscious Katungi gorilla but in vain.
In the process of reviving the unconscious Katungi Twin Gorilla, he just responded by jerking once and breathed his last. The death coincided with the second anniversary of the death of Katungi’s grandfather, Nkuringo, who died in April 2008.
About Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is located in the southwestern part of Uganda and covers 331 square kilometers. Bwindi can be reached from Queen Elizabeth National Park in the north (3-4 hours), from Kabale to the south (2-3 hours), or from Kampala via Mbarara (8-10 hours). The roads meet at Butogota, 17km from the Buhoma entrance gate. During the wet season March to May four wheel drive vehicle is recommended.
The landscape in Bwindi Forest is rugged, with deep valleys running between steep sided hills and ridges. There is both lowland and montane rainforest with dense undergrowth of herbs, vines and shrubs, making the Park look impenetrable. This area is regarded as one of the most biologically diverse forests with the richest faunal community in East Africa.
The forest is home to many rare species and encompasses one of the last remaining habitats of Mountain sliver-back-Gorillas. More than half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas are found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (approximately 360 of the remaining 770 or so individuals). The park has over 120 species of mammals, which include forest elephants, the giant forest Hog and 10 species of primates, including chimpanzees, colobus monkeys and baboons. Bwindi is also the only park in the world where chimpanzees and gorillas co-exist in the same environment.