Overview
- Community trackers documented the Jan. 3 birth in the Bageni family and confirmed both infants are male and appeared healthy at first observation.
- The delivery is Virunga’s first recorded birth of 2026 and brings the Bageni group to 59 members, the park’s largest family.
- Mafuko, a 22-year-old female who lost her mother to armed violence in 2007, has now had seven offspring, including twins in 2016 that died within a week.
- Twin births in mountain gorillas occur in under about 1% of pregnancies and require intensive maternal care, prompting enhanced monitoring and protection by park staff.
- Conservationists note just over 1,000 mountain gorillas remain in the wild as conflict and habitat pressures in eastern Congo complicate protection and monitoring.