Dominant Mountain Gorilla Ndahura Immortalized in Uganda

Ndahura died in a freak accident in 2016, after a tree branch, he was sitting on broke, and he fell down about 20 meters to his death

Seven years since the death of the dominant Mountain Gorilla in Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Ndahura, the dominant silverback, has been immortalized in his original likeness.

Ndahura died in a freak accident in 2016, after a tree branch, he was sitting on broke, and he fell down about 20 meters to his death.

He was 28 years of age at the time of his demise and was an alpha male of Bitukura Gorilla Group of 12 gorillas, named after river Bitukura that snakes through the forest. He left behind four known offspring.

Ndahura’s remains were stuffed and unveiled in a glass display at the start of the six months Apes and Primate Exhibition that commenced on February 24 at the Uganda Museum in Uganda’s capital Kampala, to the awe of the visitors. His skeletal remains are also displayed at the exhibition.

For the equivalent of $4US, one can now get to see Ndahura and perhaps be inspired to save that UGX 250,000 ($700US) it takes to visit the gorillas in their natural habitat.

Although shrunk to a fraction of his original 420-pound size, Ndahura becomes the sole ambassador for this endangered iconic species, whose existence is threatened by climate change attributed to increasing temperatures, droughts, C02 emissions, extreme weather and human activities that may lead to habitat loss in their already limited spaces.

According to Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusooka, founder of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) – a nonprofit organization that conducts programs to protect gorillas and other wildlife from human and livestock disease, apes , primates and other wildlife that are threatened by human wildlife conflict, poaching war with reference to the civil conflicts in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), zoonotic disease eg. COVID, human population growth rates and climate change.

According to a 2018 census, gorilla numbers were recorded at 1,063 removing them from ‘critically endangered’ list to ‘endangered’ on the CITES appendix owing to increased conservation efforts in the last twenty years.

According to The Minister of Wildlife and Antiquities, Honorable Tom Butime. who presided over the event, ‘this exhibition brings out the crucial role of Uganda in research of apes that aims at the following:

-It presents a scientific rigorous accessible exhibition that introduces to the public the fossil and living apes of Uganda while also deploying central biological concepts including evolution , ecology and cconservation.

-It presents to the young Ugandans cutting edge research on ape evolution carried out in Uganda by Ugandan and foreign scholars to promote public awareness of the conservation plight faced by the gorilla and chimpanzee .

-This exhibition not only shows us the beauty but warns us of climate change that is causing devastation on our livelihood.

He also warns the population that any disruption to the primate natural environment will cause us harmful impact, and we need to maintain our environmental resources so that our endangered primate species can survive.

This exhibition is in line with the country’s’ strategy of harnessing tourism through product diversification. It is also part of the domestic tourism strategy.

The honorable Minister commended the curator Amon Mugume, Professor Laura MacLatchy and Alexandra Norwood of Michighan University and the US Natural Science Foundation, Makerere University Kampala and host Commissioner Jackie Besigye -Department of Museums and Monuments for supporting research and education.

The exhibition runs until August 2023.