Mount Mikeno

Mount Mikeno
Highest point
Elevation4,437 m (14,557 ft)[1]
Prominence1,193 m (3,914 ft)
Parent peakMount Karisimbi
ListingHighest mountain peaks of Africa
Coordinates1°27′53″S 29°25′10″E / 1.46471°S 29.41958°E / -1.46471; 29.41958[2]
Geography
Parent rangeVirunga Mountains
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcano[3]
Last eruptionPleistocene[3]

Mount Mikeno is an extinct volcanic mountain located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo section of the Virunga Mountains along with Mount Nyiragongo, Mount Nyamuragira, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Bisoke and Mount Sabyinyo. At 4,437 metres (14,557 ft) Mount Mikeno is the second highest peak in the Virunga Mountains after Karisimbi, and the 13th highest in Africa. Mikeno means "poor" and is so named for its harsh slopes which preclude human habitation. [4]

Mount Mikeno lies completely within Virunga National Park and is known for the critically endangered mountain gorillas that live on its slopes.[5] Expeditions to observe Mikeno's gorillas typically leave from the nearby Bukima Patrol Post.[6]

Mount Mikeno is the type locality of the yellow-crested helmetshrike Prionops alberti.[7]

It was featured in the movie Congo where the city of Solomon diamond mine is located.

  1. ^ "Mount Mikeno". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  2. ^ "Topographic map of Mikeno". opentopomap.org. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  3. ^ a b "Mikedo". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  4. ^ Fossey 1983, pp. 40
  5. ^ "About Virunga National Park" Virguna.org. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  6. ^ "Mountain Gorilla Treks" VisitVirguna.org. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  7. ^ Schouteden, Henri (1933). "Un oiseau nouveau trouvi. au sommet du Mikeno". Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines. 24: 211.