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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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Redazione

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