President Names Rare Gorillas at National Park

Rwanda’s president joined villagers and conservation workers on the edges of Volcanoes National Park to name 30 rare mountain gorilla babies, in what the country hopes will be an annual ceremony for one of its biggest tourist attractions.

Among the gorillas was the only recorded set of twins to survive to the age of 1.

Conservation workers and researchers traditionally name primates they track after identifying each one based on the patterns formed by wrinkles on their faces. But this time members of the public were invited to propose names. More than 20,000 visit the central African nation each year, and the gorillas are the main draw.

President Paul Kagame and his wife named the 1-year-old twins Byishimo, meaning happiness, and Impano, or gift.