US EditionRare Mountain Gorilla Twins Born in DR Congo's Virunga National Park
- On 3rd January 2026, Virunga National Park announced that Mafuko, a 22-year-old female mountain gorilla, gave birth to two male infants who appeared healthy at observation, with the news shared on Jan. 7.
- Twin births, described as about 1% of mountain gorilla births, are rare; Mafuko, age 22, has had seven offspring including twins who died within a week in 2016.
- Community trackers discovered the newborns on Saturday, reporting Mafuko holding her two infants while wardens and rangers increased monitoring and protection.
- The Bageni family now totals 59 members, making it the largest in the park, and conservationists at Virunga said the arrival boosts recovery efforts supported by anti-poaching patrols and community programmes.
- Spanning 7,800 square kilometres, Virunga National Park hosts more than one-third of global mountain gorillas but faces rebel control by M23 and Allied Democratic Forces, raising deforestation and poaching risks.
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The birth of toys in the species is rare, and the first months after birth present several challenges. Conservatives say that children appear to be "healthy" and in good shape.
In the Congo, a gorilla mother has born twins - an enormously rare event. In addition, the mountain gorillas threatened with extinction live in the middle of the war zone. The park administration now wants to increase the protection of the newborns - which also provides criticism in view of the poverty in the region.
Virunga National Park – located in the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced the birth of twin gorillas. A rare event. These are mountain gorillas, an endangered and protected species.
A mountain gorilla gave birth to twins in eastern Congo, an area affected by the war, reported a national park on Wednesday, calling the event “an important event” for this endangered subspecies.
Rare gorilla twins born in conflict-hit DR Congo nature park
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.
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