Mountain Gorilla Tracking Tours and Human Contacts

Mountain gorillas are an endangered species of primates. These primates live in close knit family groups. These mountain gorilla family groups are only found in the three countries of Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC ( Democratic Republic of Congo ). There’s one of the last surviving families in Rwanda called the Amahoro which means Peace in the English language. In this family there’s a mountain gorilla named Ghahinga which has the habit of sneaking up on those doing gorilla tracking ( gorilla tours ) and pulling their sleeves or even pinching them. Weird as this might sound, people doing gorilla tracking safaris are not allowed to go within 15m (some 7m depending on where you are doing the tracking ) of these endangered mountain gorilla species for fear of making the gorillas catch a human communicable disease. It is however clear from these experiences that some of the rangers are not adhering to these park rules and are allowing contact between humans and gorillas.
These mountain gorillas in Rwanda are found in the misty shrouded mountains of the Virunga straddling the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and Congo. The game rangers help tourist track these mountain gorillas whose movements are very unpredictable and may cross over from any one of these three countries into another. Unlike humans, gorillas don’t need passports to cross from one country to another. This depending on which family and where you are tracking can be very frustrating especially if the rangers in other country deny you the permission to track in their country.
For those of you who might be wondering how a gorilla in the wild can have a name, in Rwanda gorilla naming has been turned into a world renown conservation event to raise awareness about the plight of these endangered primate species who share over 90% of our genes. This year’s conference, namely Kwita Izina was held on 1st July with a concert by Oliver Ngoma an International music artist to raise funds for the conservation of these mountain gorillas. The naming of these mountain gorillas is to help in tracking individual gorillas as sometimes these apes fall prey to some selfish poachers wishing to make a quick buck. It is obvious that much as the communities surrounding these conservation areas that have been turned into habitats for the gorillas, there are those who have never appreciated the importance of conserving these great apes for future generations.
To arrange for mountain gorilla tracking you can contact gorilla tour, Uganda gorilla tour, Uganda gorilla safari and Bwindi gorilla safari