Deaths in Bwindi – Bwindi National Park is located in the southwestern part of Uganda, in the steep ridges and misty valleys of Kabale, Kisoro, and Kanungu districts.
It covers an area of about 331 square kilometers. Bwindi is a tropical rainforest that receives heavy rainfall of about 1500mm to 1900mm and acts as a water catchment area for five major rivers that flow into Lake Albert.
The park consists mainly of montane and lowland forests that serve as habitats for diverse wildlife species, lying at an altitude of 1160m to 2607m above sea level.
Bwindi was gazetted as a national park to protect the endangered mountain gorillas that were going extinct mainly due to poaching, habitat loss, and diseases. Bwindi has a variety of wildlife species, including 120 mammal species, 360 species of birds, 11 ape species, 1000 flowering plants, 163 tree species, and 104 fern species.
Bwindi has 20 gorilla families available for trekking by tourists, including Rushengura, Bitukura, Habinyanja, Oruzogo, Nshongi, Nkuringo, and Bweza, among others. Bwindi is the major destination for mountain gorillas in the world and receives the highest number of tourists in Uganda.
Deaths in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
The Bwindi Massacre
The Bwindi massacre occurred on March 2, 1999, when eight tourists were killed by Hutu rebels from Rwanda in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park during the Rwandan genocide.
The tourists killed included four British, two Americans, and two New Zealanders. Among those killed were four women and four men, who were killed using axes, knives, and machetes.
It is noted that this massacre involved the killing of these innocent people after kidnapping and raping some of the tourists. The victims included Robert Haunner (45) and Susan Miller (42), Americans killed on their vacation in Africa after their wedding, and Mark Lindgren (23) and Steven Roberts, British citizens.
Reports show that the killers were Hutus responsible for the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and they fled to Bwindi Forest near the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is noted that the rebels killed these tourists due to the support given to the Tutsi by the UK and US governments, while other sources suggest the massacre was revenge for UK and US support to Uganda.
Check about Cultural Encounters in Bwindi.
The Death of Rafiki, Uganda’s Charismatic Mountain Gorilla
Rafiki was a silverback gorilla who headed the Nkuringo gorilla family and is believed to have been killed by poachers. Reports show that Rafiki was announced missing and, later the next day, his body was found in an area called Hokato in Bwindi.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority stated that he was found injured by a sharp object on his upper abdomen. Rafiki was about 25 years old when he was killed. Rafiki was habituated, meaning he was used to human beings, thus leading to his killing by poachers.
Bwindi is generally a safe place to engage in various tourist activities, and tourists can explore without any worries by following the guidelines set by the park rangers.
