Kahuzi-Biega National Park is in the southern part of the Virunga Mountains in the region of Kivu. The park is one of the last refuges of the rare Mountain Gorilla and was the original site where Dian Fossey (protege of Dr. Louis Leakey) studied gorillas before relocating to Rwanda. At the time we visited (1987 & 1989) only an estimated 600 individuals remained throughout their range. We shudder to think what their numbers have been reduced to now as they have been terribly impacted by war in the region.

At the entrance to the park we hired trackers to lead us through the forest to where Gorilla groups were foraging.

As we got close to where the Gorillas were, we began to see signs such as nests used the night before and we could smell them nearby. Our first glimpses were of curious, small juveniles peeking through the underbrush and this one slid down a vine.

Here is one of the larger females in the group.

The huge silverback male had no qualms about us being close, just as long as he remained between us and his family group.

While eating a piece of fruit, the silverback kept moving closer to Bob until he was about 6 feet away.

This female was very shy and went and sat at the edge of the clearing with her back to us. Periodically she looked over her shoulder to keep an eye on things.

Are we studying them, or the other way around?

Tired of eating, and satisfied that we were up to no mischief, the silverback stretched out, leaning on his elbow to rest.

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