Mountain
gorillas are regarded as endangered species and there are only about 980
mountain gorillas that remain in the world. They are shared by three countries
that’s Uganda (Bwindi and Mgahinga) Rwanda (volcanoes national park) and the
democratic republic of Congo. Gorillas are regarded very humble and rarely
attack human and gorillas of these countries are habituated to human standards
and they can be tracked safely in their natural habitat. But an encounter a
person should stay still and refrain from staring or pointing at the gorillas. Gorillas
are regarded the second closest relative of man after the chimpanzee and shares
almost 96% of human DNA make up, it’s the biggest primate on earth with a male
weighing over 180 kg (400 lb). Females weigh half that at about 90 kg (200 lb.
Gorillas are like human they have all the five senses, five fingers, they can
stand upright although they like to walk on their knuckles for a long time.
Conservation fact:
Oscar Von Beringe a German officer was the first
European to encounter the mountain gorillas; he decided that something must be
done to preserve the population of these magnificent creatures, and in 1925 he
persuaded the Belgian government to create Africa’s first protected area,
Albert National park (now volcanoes national park). Dian Fossey continued on the works of George Schaller to protect and habituate these endangered
mountain gorillas that today they can be tracked safely in their natural
habitat, however Dian Fossy was killed in December 1985 by the said poachers whom
she had made herself very unpopular, and her story has been made the subject of
her film, Gorilla in the Mist.
Habits:
They live in close-knit family groups that may have up to 30 members. The group comprises of a silverback because of the distinctive silvery fur growing on their back and hips when they mature at least 12 years old, these silver-back scares away other animals by standing on their back legs, a young male gorilla called a black-buck age from 8-11 years they most of the time leave their group at the age of 11 years and have their family group at the age of 15 years. A female gorilla age from 10 years and above, adolescents from 5-8 years and the infants from 1- 5 years. The silverback which is a mature male is in charge of the group, he is responsible for fertilizing all females in the group and a male gorilla begins to breed between 12 and 15 years, a silverback is also in charge of where to sleep the following night and he protects the group in case of any attack and if it means losing life he can do so in order to protect the group and even a mother fight tooth and nail to protect their young ones.
Gestation:
when
a male conceives it stays with a pregnancy for a period of about 8-10 months,
they give birth for the first time at 10 years and will have more springs every
after three years or four years. They most of the time produce one baby, twins
in gorillas is a rare case, the mother take care of the infant for up to about
4-5 years when it can live on its own
Diet:
Mountain gorillas are purely vegetarians; they
mainly feed on leaves, buds, shoots, tubes, roots, stalks, bark fruits, ferns
etc. they spend most of the day feeding. Gorillas rarely drink water this is
because most of the food they eat contains too much water.
Life span:
Gorillas can live for over 50 years in the
wild where as in captivity they can live less than 35 years.
Threats to mountain gorillas;
Gorillas
are threatened by wild animals which attack and kill them like lion, leopard and
they normally kill young gorillas, diseases
like Ebola kill them, human activity like clearing a way forests leaving them
homeless, poaching, they are hunted out by poachers for trade meat and
medicine, all these put these rare species in danger.
Mountain gorilla tracking
Uganda is regarded as a premier destination for gorilla tracking, in bwindi impenetrable national park there about 10 habituated gorilla group ready for tracking and in each group only 8 members are allowed to track which means that about 88 members are ready to track each day. Gorilla tracking begins very early in the morning after reporting at the park headquarters for briefing about the dos and don't s while with gorillas and it can go to a half or full day in the wild. A gorilla permit is at a fee of USD 600 per person per tracking during high seasons and USD 350 per person in the low season. Don't wait book a 3 day Uganda gorilla safari to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park
TIPS FOR RWANDA GORILLA TRACKING
·
·
When you’re in
the wild Stay together in a tight group while with the gorillas, don’t surround
them.
·
Stay in a
distance of about 7-10 meters to the gorilla
·
When you’re with
gorillas Don’t make any loud noises or sudden movements, you may scare them
away or they charge on you
·
If you want to
sneeze or cough, turn away from the gorillas this may affect them
·
If you want to
take photos, don’t use a flash camera
·
Don’t eat or
smoke near the gorillas they may charge on you
·
Don’t litter
·
Bury excrement
deep and cover properly
·
You are only
allowed to stay with gorillas for one hour per visit
·
No one with a
communicable disease can visit the gorillas
·
No one under 15
years old can visit/track the gorillas
