Endangered mountain gorilla gives birth to rare twins in Congo: “Major event”

An endangered mountain gorilla has given birth to twins in the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, whose remarkable biodiversity has long been threatened by the region’s litany of conflicts.

Fewer than one percent of mountain gorilla pregnancies result in twins, according to scientists, with the DRC recording a previous case in 2020, also in the UNESCO-listed Virunga reserve. In  social media post, the park called it a  “rare and remarkable event.”

“The two newborns are both male,” park official Methode Uhoze told AFP by phone on Thursday.

“Despite the challenges, life triumphs,” the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, which manages the DRC’s national parks, said on social media, posting a photo of the mother with the two minuscule babies in her arms.

According to wardens, a team of trackers spotted the twins on Saturday, with monitoring and protection measures in force to increase their chances of survival.

The twins were born to a 22-year-old female named Mafuko, who is part of the Bageni family of mountain gorillas, the park said. There are now 59 members in the family, the largest in the reserve.

Mafuko has given birth to a total of seven newborns, including a set of twins in 2016, but those twins died a week after birth, the reserve said.

Mafuko was born into the Kabirizi family in 2003 but her mother was shot dead 2007, according to the park.  In 2013, the Kabirizi family split, and Mafuko joined the Bageni family. Three years later, her sister Tumaini joined the family, the park said.

“The birth of these twins represents a major event for the dynamics of the Bageni family and for ongoing conservation efforts to support the continued growth of the endangered mountain gorilla population within Virunga National Park,” the reserve said in a statement.

The Virunga park, which was inaugurated in 1925, holds the distinction of being Africa’s oldest nature reserve.

Stretching across 3,000 square miles near the borders with Rwanda and Uganda, the reserve includes territory controlled by the M23 militia.

The M23 has seized swathes of the Congolese east with Rwanda’s backing, and has expanded its influence in the region in recent months.

Virunga’s forests are also believed to have been used as a hideout by fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group.

Just over 1,000 mountain gorillas are estimated to live in the wild.

According to the reserve’s authorities, the Virunga park was home to 350 of the great apes in 2021.

Eight other mountain gorilla births were registered in Virunga in 2025, according to park spokesman Bienvenu Bwende.