Since 2005, naming infant mountain gorillas has become an important annual nationwide tradition in Rwanda. The naming ceremony is based on a historic Rwandan cultural practice for naming newborns in front of family and friends and has been adapted to celebrate successful gorilla protection and conservation.
Each year, the trackers who work to protect these gorillas all year long come up with a shortlist of three potential names, all in the Kinyarwanda language, for each gorilla infant. These names are selected to reflect something about the time the infant was born it could be something happening in the community around the park, the country or even a global event. During the official ceremony, special guests are given the honour of selecting one of these names for each infant.
“A gorilla name is more than just a word, and each has a special meaning to the trackers in the field, who provide suggestions for the names to be given to gorillas,” says Felix Ndagijimana, the Fossey Fund’s director of programs in Rwanda and director of our Karisoke Research Center.
Here’s what you need to know about the ceremony and the iconic mountain gorilla:
Kwita Izina is inspired by the ancient Rwandan tradition of naming a baby soon after its birth. During this ceremony, infant mountain gorillas that were born in Rwanda during the previous year receive their names.
At this year’s ceremony 19 infant mountain gorillas will be named, as well as one newly formed family.
About 239 mountain gorillas have been named over the course of the Kwita Izina ceremonies.
There are less than 1,000 mountain gorillas remaining in the world. This critically endangered species is found only in three countries, spanning four national parks.
Mountain gorillas generate significant tourism revenue, providing direct economic benefits to communities. In 2016, Rwanda generated about the US $400 million in tourism revenue the majority of which was from tourists visiting the country’s mountain gorillas.
In 2008 former AWF CEO Patrick Bergin had the high honour of naming a gorilla. He called her Sacola.
