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Uganda’s newest moun­tain goril­la, named “Masiko” or “Hope”, was born in Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble Nation­al Park in late Sep­tem­ber. Ugan­da is home to approx­i­mate­ly 480 moun­tain goril­las, more than half the world’s remain­ing pop­u­la­tion. (PRNewsFoto/Uganda Tourism Board)

Uganda Welcomes Three Infant Mountain Gorillas

Critically endangered population continues growth due to proactive conservation efforts

Approx­i­mate­ly 480 moun­tain goril­las, more than half the world’s pop­u­la­tion of this crit­i­cal­ly endan­gered crea­ture (a sub­species of the east­ern goril­la), reside in the dense forests of south­west­ern Ugan­da, and that num­ber has grown with the recent birth of three infants since mid-August. Adven­tur­ous vis­i­tors track­ing the habit­u­at­ed Habinyan­ja goril­la fam­i­ly in Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble Nation­al Park spot­ted the newest arrival in late Sep­tem­ber.

Ugan­da has 12 habit­u­at­ed moun­tain goril­la fam­i­lies (11 in Bwin­di and one in Mgahin­ga Goril­la Nation­al Park), and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to track them in their nat­ur­al habi­tat tops the buck­et lists of wildlife enthu­si­asts and intre­pid trav­el­ers world­wide. Researchers began the Habinyan­ja fam­i­ly’s two-year habit­u­a­tion process in 1997, spend­ing time with them dai­ly until they became at ease around humans. The oth­er two infants belong to the Busha­ho and Bikyi­ri­gi fam­i­lies, which are cur­rent­ly under­go­ing habit­u­a­tion and can­not yet be tracked by vis­i­tors.

Ugan­da Wildlife Author­i­ty: Con­ser­va­tion in Action
The num­ber of moun­tain goril­las in Bwin­di has pro­gres­sive­ly increased over the last 20 years accord­ing to four cen­sus­es tak­en to mon­i­tor pop­u­la­tion size. Despite this growth, moun­tain goril­las remain threat­ened due to issues such as poach­ing, habi­tat loss, and encroach­ment by humans. Gov­ern­ment orga­ni­za­tions like the Ugan­da Wildlife Author­i­ty (UWA) proac­tive­ly com­bat these prob­lems to pro­tect the goril­las and their for­est home. The UWA, found­ed in 1996, man­ages and patrols Uganda’s 10 nation­al parks and is ded­i­cat­ed to the con­ser­va­tion, eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment, and sus­tain­able man­age­ment of the coun­try’s wildlife pro­tect­ed areas.

From Vet­eri­nar­i­ans to Tourists: Keep­ing Goril­las Healthy
Dis­ease and res­pi­ra­to­ry infec­tions are also threats to Uganda’s moun­tain goril­la pop­u­la­tion. Goril­las are sus­cep­ti­ble to many of the same ill­ness­es as humans, and keep­ing them healthy is crit­i­cal­ly impor­tant. Vis­i­tors to Bwin­di and Mgahin­ga are required to stay 21 feet from the goril­las at all times to pre­vent the pass­ing of germs and are advised not to track goril­las if they are expe­ri­enc­ing a cold or oth­er signs of infec­tion. UWA rangers mon­i­tor the health and well-being of goril­la fam­i­lies on an ongo­ing basis. When a goril­la is in need of care, the UWA calls upon Goril­la Doc­tors, a part­ner­ship of the UC Davis Moun­tain Goril­la Vet­eri­nary Project and the UC Davis Wildlife Health Cen­ter with staff on the ground in Ugan­da.

Track­ing Per­mits: Fund­ing Future Gen­er­a­tions
Per­mits priced at US$600 per per­son in high sea­son are required to track the habit­u­at­ed goril­las. A por­tion of the track­ing per­mit fee is used to fund the salaries of park rangers and anti-poach­ing mea­sures, and 20% of the fee goes to the local com­mu­ni­ties sur­round­ing Bwin­di and Mgahin­ga, which often equals upwards of US$1 mil­lioneach year to sup­port com­mu­ni­ty growth and edu­ca­tion.

Com­mu­ni­ty Edu­ca­tion: A Grass­roots Approach
When mem­bers of Uganda’s com­mu­ni­ties learn more about the goril­las and begin to reap the eco­nom­ic and employ­ment ben­e­fits cre­at­ed by goril­la track­ing, their rela­tion­ship with the moun­tain goril­las typ­i­cal­ly begins to shift. They become less like­ly to engage in poach­ing, and human-wildlife con­flicts are reduced. Teenagers and young adults in the com­mu­ni­ties have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to serve as goril­la track­ing assis­tants, work­ing to help vis­i­tors nav­i­gate the trails and paths required to reach the goril­las. Through this process, they devel­op a new under­stand­ing of the goril­las, which they then share with their friends and fam­i­ly. In some cas­es, poach­ers from these local com­mu­ni­ties have even become park rangers ded­i­cat­ed to main­tain­ing the goril­las’ safe­ty.

“Uganda’s wildlife and nation­al parks are our most pre­cious nat­ur­al resources, and we must all do our part to sup­port their con­ser­va­tion,” said UWA Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Andrew Seguya. “I am proud that the UWA plays such an impor­tant role in ensur­ing that Uganda’s moun­tain goril­las, giraffes, rhi­nos, and oth­er ani­mals will con­tin­ue to thrive for gen­er­a­tions to come.”

Edi­tor Note: High-res images can be down­loaded here. 

ABOUT UGANDA
Known as the “Pearl of Africa,” Ugan­da is locat­ed in East Africa and offers some of the con­ti­nen­t’s most diverse wildlife view­ing, dra­mat­ic land­scapes, and immer­sive cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences. Ugan­da is home to more than half the world’s pop­u­la­tion of endan­gered moun­tain goril­las, and trekking to observe these gen­tle giants in Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble For­est is one of the world’s top “buck­et list” trav­el activ­i­ties. Safari oppor­tu­ni­ties abound in savan­na, for­est, and wet­land set­tings through­out 10 nation­al parks, where vis­i­tors can come face to face with “The Big Five” – lion, leop­ard, rhi­no, ele­phant, and buf­fa­lo – as well as giraffe, zebra, chim­panzee, hip­popota­mus, croc­o­dile, and more than half of all bird species found in Africa. Among Uganda’s extra­or­di­nary nat­ur­al attrac­tions are the snow-capped Rwen­zori Moun­tains; expan­sive Lake Vic­to­ria, which forms the source of the Nile Riv­er; and Murchi­son Falls Nation­al Park. Air ser­vice to Uganda’s Entebbe Inter­na­tion­al Air­port is avail­able on car­ri­ers includ­ing Delta Air Lines/KLM Roy­al Dutch Air­lines, Brus­sels Air­lines, Qatar Air­ways, Emi­rates Air­lines, Turk­ish Air­lines, Eti­had Air­ways, South African Air­ways, EgyptAir and Ethiopi­an Air­lines. For more infor­ma­tion, please vis­it www.visituganda.com.

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