What a great innovation!
Uganda Wildlife Authority staff in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda’s most popular national park, have been able to give names to all eleven gorillas in the Rushegura group.
Thumbs up our Bwindi staff!! This is no mean achievement. The process involves closely observing the gorillas for endless hours. No easy task given that gorillas live in the dark jungle, and following them requires lots of patience and determination.
The Rushegura group has one silverback who is the Head of the group, five females, two juveniles and three infants.
Below are the names of the gorillas and their meaning in table form:
| SEX | GIVEN NAME | MEANING OF NAME |
| Silverback | Mwirima | Means darkness among the Bakiga in South Western Uganda. The gorilla’s hair is extremely dark! |
| Adult Female | Kyirinvi | Refers to a person with grey hair. Kyirinvi has lots of silvery hair under her right ear. |
| Adult Female | Buzinza | Refers to a person with a cut on their ear. Buzinza’s right ear is split into two lobs. |
| Adult Female | Nyamunwa | This word is used in reference to anything near the mouth. Nyamunwa has a huge scar around her mouth. |
| Adult Female | Kibande | Refers to a big and flat head. Kibande has a big and flat head. |
| Adult Female | Karungyi | Refers to beautiful and nice things. Karugnyi has a perfect body with no dents or scars, hence the name. |
| Juvenile | Karembezi | Refers to a person who nurses and cares for children, a favorite pastime for this gorilla. Karembezi is always carrying infant gorillas on its back. |
| Juvenile | Kabukojo | Among the Bakiga, Enkojo is a scar from a wound. Kabukojo has several scars on her nose. |
| Infant | Ruterana | “Kuterana” is to beat among the Bakiga. Ruterana screams unnecessarily and causes fights among fellow gorillas |
| Infant | Nyampazi | Refers to red ants. When Nyampazi was first sighted, the group was feeding on ants |
| Infant | Kafuruka | “Okufuruka” is to migrate. Kafuruka was born when the family was mobile, and had nearly traversed the whole park! |
Next time you track the Rushegura group, we hope you will be able to guess the names of the gorillas just by looking at them!