Baby Gorillas are named in Rwanda in a ceremony Kwita Izina

Rwanda is East Africa’s fast-rising country and tourism has been a key driver of Rwanda’s growth. Most of the tourism revenue is generated from tourists visiting the country’s mountain gorillas. Kwita Izina is a Rwandan ceremony that gives a name to a newly-born mountain gorilla.

Kwita Izina 2019 edition will be held on September 6. The Rwandese ceremony is occasioned by the need to preserve the ancient culture where newborn mountain gorillas are named. Essentially, Kwita Izina is meant to monitor each mountain gorilla’s behaviour and how it blends into its natural habitat.

It is also a way of protecting mountain gorillas, which years back, were endangered species. There are less than 1000 mountain gorillas in the world currently.

A fully-grown Mountain Gorilla in Rwanda. [Photo by Daily Mail]

This year, a total of 19 baby mountain gorillas will be named, totalling to 239 mountain gorillas that have been named since the ceremony began over a decade ago. A total of 23 mountain gorillas were named in 2018.

Kwita Izina is a key economic driver for Rwanda as it generates about $400 million in tourism revenue. Volcanoes National Park and Virunga National park are the natural habitats of mountain gorillas.