Fan as gorillas get ‘baptised’
President Paul Kagame waves to the crowd at Musanze at the foothills of Virunga Mountains during the Kwita Izina ceremony, where he was the chief guest last Saturday. Photo by Edgar R Batte.
What you need to know:
Naming ceremony. The names attributed to the gorillas play a significant role in the on-going programme of monitoring each individual gorilla in their families and habitat, writes Edgar R Batte.
Every year, visitors from different countries descend on Musanze near Virunga Mountains National Park, Rwanda, for the Kwita Izina gorilla-naming ceremony, where baby gorillas are named by distinguished individuals. This year, 24 baby gorillas were named at the eleventh edition of the event last Saturday. The theme for this year was “Conserving now and for the future”.
Kwita Izina is not only a premium event on the Rwanda tourism calendar but also on the national calendar. The Government of Rwanda, through the Rwanda Development Board, in collaboration with various conservation partners and local communities, supports the event.
At this year’s event, President Paul Kagame was the chief guest. He called Rwandans to conserve the gorilla population, which has become one of the leading foreign exchange earners for the economy.
