Howard Buffett, Sean Penn to name Baby Gorillas at #KwitaIzina2017
Hollywood star Sean Penn and Howard Buffett – son of American billionaire investor Warren Buffett – are expected to descend on Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park on Friday, September 1, to name baby mountain gorillas during Kwita Izina, the country’s annual baby gorilla naming ceremony.
This year marks the 13th edition of Rwanda’s flagship tourism event, which brings together conservationists from all over the world to celebrate the country’s success in protecting the endangered species. The theme for this year’s event is, “Conservation and sustainable tourism; a foundation for future generations”.
This year will see a total of 19 baby gorillas given names in efforts that are geared towards conserving the critically endangered species.
According to the latest statistics (2010), only 880 mountain gorillas are left in the world, and about half of them reside in the lush Virunga chain of eight volcanic mountains that straddle Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mountain gorillas remain a big-money tourist attraction in the three countries.
Since the initial launch of Kwita Izina in 2005, a total of 239 baby mountain gorillas have been named.