AWF ¤ALISTAIR POLE¥
In the wake of the shocking death of Rafiki, one of Uganda’s best-known and most-loved gorillas, conservationists are closely watching the ‘Nkuringo’” gorilla group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. In June, Rafiki was speared by a poacher who later admitted to hunting pig and antelope in the park. He said he killed the gorilla in self defence when the silverback charged. The Ugandan man has since been sentenced to 11 years in prison, while three men who entered the park with him are awaiting trial.
The death of the only silverback in the Nkuringo clan of 17, which Rafiki led since 2008, leaves the group unstable, with the possibility of disintegration. Experts must look to past incidents for clues about what could be next. When a silverback dies, group members may disperse into other groups. “Many times, solitary silverbacks or another group will interact with a group that has lost a silverback,” says Craig Sholley, senior vice-president at AWF and a mountain gorilla expert. “Then, you’ve got a lot of dynamic tension. “If there are infants in the group that has lost the silverback, there’s a strong possibility that an intervening silverback who’s looking to take over will engage in infanticide.”