February 7, 2012

Lone Silverback Gains Female from Inshuti Group

Nyandwi, one of the females of Inshuti’s group, was found today with the lone silverback Giraneza, one of the lone silverbacks that interacted with the group on Feb. 2. The two gorillas seemed fine but they ran away from trackers, so it was not possible to get a good observation of their activities/behavior. Nyandwi is a young female (almost 9 years old) born in Pablo’s group. She transferred to Inshuti’s group on Aug. 21, 2011.Tomorrow we will try to approach them again.

The rest of Inshuti’s group has not been found yet (see previous blog). Now we think that the reason they disappeared is because of an interaction with Giraneza and the subsequent transfer of Nyandwi. Tomorrow we will continue the search for this group, aided by temporary staff, Karisoke anti-poaching staff, and RDB (Rwanda park authority) staff supporting the effort.

Veronica