Ellen DeGeneres in Rwanda ahead of 2026 Kwita Izina Ceremony

American television personality and comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her partner, actress Portia de Rossi, are in Rwanda ahead of the 21st edition of Kwita Izina, the annual gorilla naming ceremony.

DeGeneres confirmed their presence in Rwanda in an Instagram post, as she shared their visit to the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, a gorilla research, conservation and education centre in Kinigi, Musanze District.

DeGeneres said the campus had welcomed more than 100,000 visitors since it opened four years ago, adding that visitors from around the world had told her about their experiences at the facility and seeing gorillas in their natural environment.

“I am very grateful to get to bring this kind of awareness and support for gorillas and Rwanda,” she said.

The visit comes as Rwanda prepares for Kwita Izina, which will be held on September 4, in Kinigi, where 22 baby mountain gorillas will be given names.

The annual ceremony, organised by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), brings together local communities, conservationists and international guests to celebrate the birth of mountain gorillas and highlight efforts to protect the species and its habitat.

Last year, 40 baby gorillas were named, bringing the total number of named mountain gorillas to 438 since Kwita Izina was launched in 2005.

This year’s programme will include the launch of a community project, international travel media and trade familiarisation trips, a conservation exhibition, gorilla trekking experiences and the naming ceremony.

DeGeneres’ latest visit comes several years after her first trip to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.

She visited the park in 2018 with de Rossi, following years of admiration for the work of late Dian Fossey, the American primatologist who dedicated her life to studying and protecting mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains.

During their 2018 visit, the couple met President Paul Kagame, after which DeGeneres intensified her support for gorilla conservation in Rwanda.

In 2019, a fundraising campaign organised by DeGeneres raised $5 million for gorilla conservation. The funds supported the development of what became the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund near Volcanoes National Park.

The campus was officially inaugurated in 2022 and has since served as a centre for conservation research, education and training.

It includes research and laboratory facilities, classrooms, a library and other facilities supporting scientists, students and conservationists working to protect mountain gorillas and their habitat.

The campus is also part of the wider conservation legacy of Dian Fossey, who established the Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda in 1967 and spent years studying mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif until her death in 1985.