Last week we travelled to Kigoma for a couple of days to (sort of) civilization....

Christina, the mother of Christmas, is expecting to give birth any day, she recently started moving very slow and looking very tired most of the time..... Arriving back in camp, when we first heard about the new baby in Mahale we immediately assumed it was hers, but it seems not!

Not any of the Rangers or Trackers knew that Omo, a migrant female that joined the group in 2009 was pregnant, so it was a great surprise to see her with a new Infant – pictures of her (then 3 day old) Infant is posted on our previous blog.

2010 was a ‘baby boom’ year here in Mahale, and by the looks of it 2011 will be just as good! Not only are we welcoming the new Infants, but also a number of new Immigrant females. Around 4 to 5 new Females joined the M group between 2009 and 2010 and again a few more now in 2011.

September, who was given this name as she joined the group in the month September, and November, who was given this name, well..., because she joined the group in that month.

Both left the group again shortly after they joined in 2010, as they were not accepted by the rest of the M group females... Now we have seen them back in the group again, and it seems this time around they are being accepted, lets hope they stay!

With the birth of new Infants we also seem to have lost one. Abi, who gave birth in December 2010, was spotted a couple of days ago without her Infant. Researchers and Trackers are not sure what the cause of death could be, but suspect Cannibalism.

In this picture above is Fatuma, the mother of he Alpha Male, Pimu, with her Infant which was also born in 2010