Africa

Rwanda Named 24 Adorable Gorillas For Conservation Efforts

The Rwanda government has held the mountain gorilla naming ceremony since 2005 to highlight conservation efforts for the endangered species.

Rwanda Named 24 Adorable Gorillas For Conservation Efforts
Getty Images / Brent Stirton
SMS

The Rwandan government named 24 baby gorillas Saturday.

The naming ceremony, Kwita Izina, happens every year in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.

The event highlights Rwanda's role in the conservation of critically endangered mountain gorillas, tourism and economic development in the country. (Video via Jason Tester Guerilla Fuentes / CC BY ND 2.0)

The World Wildlife Fund estimates there are nearly 900 mountain gorillas left in the world, but the species has seen a slow population increase in recent years. 

Rwanda plans to conduct a Mountain Gorilla census this year to determine the current size of the mountain gorilla population.

This video includes images from Kwita Izina (Rwanda's Gorilla Naming Ceremony) / CC BY ND 2.0 and video from Jason Tester Guerilla Fuentes / CC BY ND 2.0.