Twin Mountain Gorillas

Twin births happen in gorillas with approximately the same frequency as in humans. On 19 May twins were born to 12-year-old Nyabitondore in the Susa group, Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda - a male and a female. The mother had had one infant before giving birth to the twins. When the babies were 5 months old, they were still very alert and active. Their mother was also doing well and had no problem eating and moving around while carrying her infants.
Although twins have been born already twice before in wild mountain gorillas, there has been no previous case of both babies surviving. The Susa group is habituated for tourists. It is a very large gorilla group with 37 members.
In 1991, there was a previous twin birth in the Susa group, by Umuhanga. One of her twins died soon after birth, and the other died soon after Umuhanga was killed by poachers in 2002. But this was not the first pair of twins observed in the mountain gorillas in Rwanda: in 1986 Walanza gave birth to two females, one of which died after one week and the other one two days later.
The only documented twin birth outside of the Virungas happened on 31 December 2003 in the Mufanzala group, Kahuzi-Biega National Park. As this group is not well habituated to humans, it is difficult to take photos. The group is monitored regularly, however, and at their first birthday both babys were developing well.
In the captive gorilla population, 8 twin births have been recorded in the studbook until 2003; 5 of the pairs were born alive. None of them was mother-reared. 8 twin births in 1066 gorilla births in captivity registered in the International Gorilla Studbook means that statistically there is one twin birth in 133 births. In humans, about one birth in 90 is a twin birth.

Twin Gorilla Births in Zoos

Latest zoo twin news: On 26 August 2004 Kena, one of the twins born in Barcelona Zoo in 1981, gave birth to a pair of twins - a male and a female. They are being hand-reared, like all the other zoo-born twins.

Compiled by Angela Meder with information from Undine Bender, Maryke Gray, Jörg Hess, Sabine Hilsberg and Carlos Schuler - many thanks!

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