A rare twin birth of mountain gorillas has taken place in Virunga National Park, located in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Conservation trackers spotted 22-year-old mother Mafuko caring for her two newborn sons on Saturday. All three gorillas appear healthy. Twin births are very uncommon, making up about 1% of all mountain gorilla births. Virunga National Park is Africa's oldest and largest park. It was established 100 years ago to protect the remaining mountain gorillas. Fewer than 1,100 mountain gorillas live in the wild, mainly in Virunga and neighboring parks in Rwanda and Uganda, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Mafuko has a challenging past. She was born in 2003 and lost her mother at age four to armed attackers. She has given birth five times and previously had twins in 2016, but sadly both died within a week. The last time twins were born in Virunga was in September 2020. Because young gorillas depend fully on their mothers, park rangers are increasing monitoring and protection to keep Mafuko's twins safe from threats like poachers and armed groups in the area. Mountain gorilla pregnancies last about eight and a half months, with births usually spaced four years apart. Virunga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covers 7,800 sq km of diverse landscapes including volcanoes, lakes, rainforests, and mountains. Thanks to strong anti-poaching patrols and community support backed by the European Union and UNESCO, mountain gorilla numbers have slowly risen. This progress helped change their status from "critically endangered" to "endangered" in 2018, a win for conservation efforts.