UGANDA MOUNTAIN GORILLA FACTS

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

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·         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

 

FACTS ABOUT ELEPHANTS

Elephants are regarded as one of the big five mammals in the wild and the largest land animals in the world Weighing up to 6 tons (11 000lb). This giant of the animal kingdom has a striking presence.  The elephant is distinguished from other mammals by its high level of brainpower, interesting behaviour, means of communication and multifaceted social structure. There are two species that are traditionally recognised in the world, the African elephant and the Asian elephant. Although they are totally living on different continent, they share a lot in common. African elephants can be distinguished from its counterpart by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa for the Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears.

Size

An African elephants are the largest among the two species weighing from 5,000 to 14,000 lbs. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms, here as an Asian elephant weigh up to 2.25 to 5.5 tons (2,041 to 4,990 kg)

The Elephant uses a  well-developed trunk  in most  of everything, the truck is very important in that it serves as a nose, hand, an extra foot, gesture device and a tool for gathering food, taping water, dusting, digging, tearing down trees, fighting especially males  and a variety of many other functions. Not only that, but the truck also permits the elephant to reach as high as 23 feet. African elephants have two finger-like of its kind on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. Asian elephants have one. Either male or female grow tusks and they grow for most of an elephant's lifetime and are an indicator of age. An elephant's trunk has more than 100,000 muscles, according to the research carried out by the National Geographic. Same applies to humans where you can find someone right handed or left handed, elephants can be right-tusked or left-tusked]

Quick Facts

Allocation

Elephants are widely allocated throughout central, western, eastern and south of the African Sahara, with the forest elephant inhabiting the rainforests of the Congo basin. There are isolated populations in the southern African sub-region. Asian elephants mostly live in Nepal, India and Southeast Asia in scrub forests and rain forests. Elephants mostly live in the open plains, clean drinking water and the plentiful supply of food are an elephant’s only habitat requirement.

Diet 

Elephant are regarded as herbivore mammals they browse and eat up to 600 pounds of food a day. They eat roots, fruits, and barks. They eat a lot of things that much their size, they can be extremely destructive in their feeding habits by pushing over trees, pulling them up by their roots or breaking off branches. They don’t sleep a lot they spend most of their time walking great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies.

Habits 

A group of elephants is called a herd, about 10 individuals which is led by a matriarch the oldest female. Unlike in other mammal species where the adult males live together within the family it’s not the case with elephants as the adult male tends to wander on their own, they are normally solitary and move from herd to herd. Females, as well as young and old elephants, stick together in a herd. The females in each herd help each other find food and care for calves.

Reproduction

Elephant have along pregnancy of about 22 months longer than any other land animal. A baby elephant weighs up to 200ibs. (91kg) and stand about 3 feet (1m) tall. A baby elephant is called a calf. female elephants (Cows) usually give birth to one calf every two to four years by the time a calf is 2 or 3 years old, they are ready to be weaned. A female calf will stay with their mothers while the male calf wanders off on their own or join another group. A female is ready to conceive when they reach 13 to 20 years of age.

Socialisation

Elephants are generally sociable and form small family groups consisting of an older matriarch and three or four offspring, along with their young. The female family groups are often visited by mature males checking for females in oestrus. Elephants communicate within their herds or between herds many kilometres away mostly using sounds too low for human ears to perceive and by stamping their feet, elephants are believed to have the same or similar levels of cooperation as chimpanzees the closest relative of man. When elephants meet at watering holes and feeding places, they warmly greet each other a sign of Socialisation among themselves. If in a group one elephant dies, the herd dig a shallow hole and made the dead elephant to rest in peace and they can even spent days mourning for their friend.

 Life span

Elephants live to up to 60 to 70 years in the wild

Predators

• Humans, because ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but it has not been completely eliminated, and some African elephant populations remain endangered.
• Other predators like hyena, crocodiles, lions are a threat to elephants they most of the time target the one ones

Where elephants can be seen in Uganda

also provides a great opportunity of watching these giants. Take a game drive in

There are very many places in Uganda where these species can be seen in abundant; they include national parks and a few game reserves. Queen Elizabeth national park which is located in the south western part of Uganda provide a unique opportunity for elephant viewing  in a close range , in a tourist 4x4 FWD vehicle.  Many can be spotted in the savannah grassland of the park and other can be seen when on a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel on the shores of the lake foraging. http://elephantsafaris.co.ug/5days-queen-murchison.phpthe northern part of the park you will meet a lot of them just near in a herd of about 10 individuals per family you meet as you will also meet other wildlife in the park. Also when you visit http://elephantsafaris.co.ug/lakemburo.phpLake Mburo national park you will keep smiling after having a glance on these wild giants. At http://www.elephantsafaris.co.ug/ we offer good packages for wildlife viewing and primate watching (single or combined) to make your safari memorable.