KIGALI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua)-- Rwanda on Friday gave names to 24 endangered mountain baby gorillas at its annual mountain gorilla naming ceremony Kwita Izina held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike the previous years that brought together thousands of participants including international guests, this year's celebrations were held virtually to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, the baby gorilla naming event was also held virtually due to COVID-19 that first broke out in the country in March 2020.

"The mountain baby gorillas being named today is our commitment to protect them and their habitat today and to the future," said Ariella Kageruka, acting chief tourism officer with Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

She said that Rwanda's conservation model focuses on protecting the wildlife while investing in surrounding communities which has enabled the mountain gorilla population to thrive.

"The success of gorilla conservation in Rwanda shows the good that can be achieved, through active community participation and the right partnerships," said Kageruka.

Kageruka said that COVID-19 has significantly impacted Rwanda's tourism industry, however, the sector has remained resilient.

This year's naming was mainly done by the Rwandan sports and entertainment celebrities, COVID-19 frontline health workers, international tourism and wildlife conservationists, nature photographers and international sports icons, among others.

Arsenal football player Bukayo Saka, gave name to a baby gorilla while five Paris Saint-Germain Football Club players Sergio Ramos, Marcos Aoas Correa - also known as Marquinhos, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar da Silva Santos Junior and Angel Di Maria each named a gorilla.

Rwanda recorded a sharp decline in tourism revenues last year, amounting to 121 million U.S. dollars. This was a sharp decline from the 498 million U.S. dollars generated in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to RDB.

Tourism activities were suspended for months due to COVID-19 in Rwanda before the country reopened the tourism sector in June 2020, with a sharp cut in the price of permits for tracking endangered mountain gorillas.

The previous events attracted thousands of Rwandans, members of the diplomatic corps, foreign dignitaries, sports personalities, philanthropists and conservation enthusiasts from across the world to participate in the baby gorilla naming ceremony at the foothills of the Virunga Massif, in Kinigi sector, Musanze district, northern Rwanda.

There are over 1,000 mountain gorillas living in the world, more than half of which live in the Virunga Mountains, and the remainder can be found in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

For three decades prior to the first official gorilla naming ceremony in 2005, park rangers and researchers named Rwanda's mountain gorilla babies as part of monitoring for each gorilla in their family and habitat.

Since the inception of this annual event in 2005, Rwanda has named 328 baby gorillas, according to the RDB.