Silverback Kabirizi's Role as King of Virunga Threatened

Kabirizi eating with his family.This Blog was written by Dr. Eddy from Virunga National Park, DRC.

On the morning January 20, I left the Bukima patrol post with a group of trackers to find Kabirizi group. Along the way we encountered the night nest of the silverback Mukunda, who still stays by himself in the forest. About 30 minutes later we met a wild or unhabituated gorilla group, a very rare occurrence. The group was quiet initially but later they moved away, with the silverbacks charging and screaming at us. We know from the 2010 census that there are several large unhabituated groups in Viurnga.

Almost 3.5 hours after starting our trek, we found Kabirizi group. The weather was sunny and almost all of the gorillas were sitting under shade in the bushes which made our observation quite long and difficult.  We counted 33 individuals, including Kabirizi himself.

Kabirizi's injured foot.I realized that Kabirizi was quieter than usual. He was not charging, hiding, or running, and was eating out in the open with his family members. Normally Kabirizi does not like being observed by people, and stays hidden in the vegetation, keeping the group’s babies close to him for protection.  I noticed that Kabirizi has many healing wounds on his left shoulder and thigh and a large cut (about 7cm) on his right heel which was healing but not allowing him to walk properly. He was limping on the right side and using his left leg a lot while walking.

Kabirizi is missing his canines.Some time ago, Kabirizi lost his upper and lower canine teeth during a fight with another gorilla. I think that his lack of canines, his defensive weapons, is one of the reasons why it is easy for the other silverbacks in the group to take advantage of him in fights. The younger silverback Bagheni  been fighting with Kabirizi on a regular basis now, and Kabirizi most often loses the battles. Another young silverback in the group, Mugeni, is also starting to challenge Kabirizi.

While the other gorillas in the group appear healthy, Kabirizi is declining due to a combination of aging and frequent fighting with the other silverbacks. It will be very interesting to see how the dynamics in the family change this year.

Research Notes:  Kabirizi has been one of the most successful silverbacks in Virunga National Park, having sired dozens of babies during his 14-year reign as leader of Kabirizi group. Famous for his aggressiveness towards people and other gorillas, Kabirizi has killed a number of other male gorillas while defending his family.

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Animal Planet films the Gorilla Doctors and Virunga National Park

Producer Jason Giberti, Dr. Jan, Dr. Eddy, and Cameraman/Diretcor Jim Incledon

By Molly Feltner, MGVP Communications Officer

On March 11, a film crew from the Animal Planet TV series Wildlife SOS  arrived in DR Congo to document the work of the Gorilla Doctors and Virunga National Park rangers for 9 days. Host Simon Cowell (no, not that Simon Cowell), Cameraman/Director Jim Incledon, and Producer Jason Giberti arrived in Goma a bit nervous about their first foray into the Congo but very excited to film mountain gorillas.  

Cameraman Jim films Drs. Jan and Eddy with Maisha.Drs. Eddy and Jacques picked up the crew the next morning and drove them to Rumangabo, the headquarters of Virunga National Park. Dr. Jan and Virunga National Park gorilla orphan caretaker Andre met the guys and brought them to the Senkwekwe Center, where Maisha, Kaboko, Ndeze, and Ndakasi were waiting. Jim filmed the first day of the orphan introduction. As if knowing they were being filmed for TV, the gorillas put on a dramatic show filled with screaming, biting, and posturing.

Host Simon Cowell interviews Emmanuel de Merode.After the gorillas settled down, Simon spent the afternoon interviewing Andre and Chief Park Warden Emmanuel de Merode about the gorillas and the threats facing Virunga National Park.

Jim films a massive pile of snares and weapons confiscated from poachers in Virunga National Park.Early the next day, the crew met with Innocent Mburanumwe, the ranger in charge of the gorilla sector of Virunga National Park. Innocent showed Simon the park's snare storeroom where the rangers keep snares, machetes, bullets, grisly elephant traps, and other weapons confiscated from poachers in the park. Seeing these traps and weapons helped put the darker side of the gorilla conservation story into perspective.

Jim films the wives of Virunga National Park rangers dancing at Rumangabo.Later in the day, the filmmakers got to see a lighter side of rangers' lives when the rangers' wives performed songs in honor of International Women's Day.

 Gorilla Noel is fascinated by his reflection in Producer Jason's camera.

After two days at Rumangabo, the crew and Drs. Jan and Eddy headed up to Bukima, the starting point for gorilla trekking in Virunga National Park. While there were no interventions going on for the film crew to document, the Gorilla Doctors and park rangers did invite them to film routine health checks in Rugendo and Kabirizi groups.

Overall, Jim, Jason, and Simon were moved by their experiences with the gorillas and with the Gorilla Doctors and Virunga National Park rangers efforts to protect them.

Before heading back to their base in the U.K., the crew spent a few extra days in Rwanda filming the Gorilla Doctor's One Health programs, including Dr. Jean-Felix's work to vaccinate dogs for rabies and Dr. Noel's work with cattle living near Volcanoes National Park.

Wildlife SOS airs on Animal Planet in Europe and Africa, and will hopefully soon be extended to the U.S. The Gorilla Doctors and Virunga National Park episode should air sometime in December before Christmas.

We'll keep you posted on the exact date and time once Jason is able to edit the final product!

Please consider supporting the Gorilla Doctors by making a secure online donation. Every dollar you give goes to directly supporting our gorilla health programs and One Health initiative. Thank you for your generosity.

For the most up-to-date information about the Gorilla Doctors, “like” our Facebook page. You’ll find gorilla health reports, news items, photos, videos, and links to related content.

Visiting Kabirizi Family

(This blog was written by Dr. Eddy in DRC)

Infant in Kabirizi group.

I recently visited the Kabirizi family from Bukima patrol post in Virunga National Park. The group traveled a long distance from where rangers left him from the previous visit. We found their night nests around 10:25am at Kingona area and 24 night nests were counted .  Not far from the night nest, we found some gorillas eating and the others moving and playing.

Kabirizi himself.

 Kabirizi family has about 34 individuals with one dominant silverback—Kabirizi—and the blackback Bagheni is second in command. Kabirizi is known for being protective of his family. He charges humans a lot and tends to make much noise when he sees us. The blackbacks Jeshi and Bagheni are most of the time observed with the group and sometimes Jeshi is the most turbulent male.

Rubiga concealing her infant

During the visit time 26 individuals were observed and no apparent health problems were noted. The adult female Rubiga was observed with her very young baby. She was resting, lying down,  and hiding the baby. After about 5 minutes she moved, putting the baby on her back, and then went into the thick bush.

Females resting.

The blackback Jeshi was not eating but was charging, moving around the females, and trying to intimidate and disturb us during the visit by grabbing bamboo shoots and then trying to push them down on us. However, Kabirizi was so quiet and peaceful this visit, eating, moving, and looking around with some juveniles playing and eating around him. The rest of the group was in the thick vegetation eating and some adult females were resting under bamboo trees.