INTRODUCTION
Volcanoes National Park was the first National Park to be created in Africa, gazetted in 1925 (a year before the KNP) it is now 130 km² and is home to a large number of the Mountain Gorillas left in the world.
There are no Mountain Gorillas in any zoos as they do not survive in captivity and at last count only 790 of them are left on the planet. They are found in the Volcanoes National Park and the adjoining Virungas. The particular group that we followed on a recent trip to Rwanda were in a section where Dianne Fossey did a great deal of work here. The gorillas managed to survive the Rwandan Civil War when the Volcanoes Park became a battlefield and was closed down in 1992 until it reopened again in 1999.
Gorillas share 98.06% of our genomes and 99.6% of our DNA. These Mountain Gorillas are vegetarians, affectionate, playful and highly intelligent.
ROGERS BIRD FACT
Whitefronted Bee-Eater Merops Bullockoides
Area:
It is relatively common to the eastern half of our country (South Africa).
Family:
The Whitefronted Bee-eater is a non-passerine bird in the Meropidae family; with 8 species occurring in southern Africa.
Interesting facts:
This bird captures soft bodied insects on the wing, which are spotted from an open perch. The bird nests in self-dug burrows made in sand walls, quite often associated with river banks. They are sometimes known to nest within close proximity of other bee-eater species. All species in the family are brightly coloured.