Africa mountain Gorillas in Uganda

Africa mountain Gorillas in Uganda – Gorilla tracking safaris in Uganda

Africa mountain gorillas in Uganda – DID YOU KNOW THAT GORILLAS WOULD BE 100% vegetarians but they are 99% just simply because they eat their dead babies? Gorillas don’t hunt any other animals for meat except of recently where some were observed eating snails. It’s interesting that they share the meat of their dead babies and they don’t eat dead adults. I think this should be the next research to find out why.

That one is true. You know animals lack some intelligence. They keep the baby for some days thinking it’s still sick not until the body starts stinking and it’s when the mother will confirm that it’s dead. That’s when she informs other members who come and share the meat. They don’t like leaving the small dead baby behind to be eaten by other animals like cats that will test the meat and start hunting the rest of the babies.

Did you know that Mountain Gorillas were discovered as a new species of Gorillas by Captain Von Beringe on the 17th of October 1902? Hence the scientific name “gorilla gorilla beringei”

These are Mountain Gorillas and the Lowland Gorillas were already identified in West Africa. Remember we have four species or call them subspecies of Gorillas in Africa

Here is how some Gorilla families got their names.

Nkuringo group was named after a small round hill called Nkuringo. The name is a Rufumbira language “enkuringo” literally meaning a round top of the mountain.

Christmas Gorilla family separated from Nkuringo Gorilla family and got the name from its leader Christmas. He was born in Nyamabuye village on 25th December 1999 hence the name Christmas.

Mishaya Gorilla family separated from Nshongi Gorilla family and was led by the Silverback called Mishaya hence the group name. Emishaya literally means Long Jaws and the silverback had Long jaws hence from where he got the name.

Oruzogo Gorilla family got the name from the area where it was first located by the first day of habituation. The place is called Mukazogo and the word Ekizogo is one of the shrubs that dominated the area. This is similar to the Rushegura Gorilla family.

Bitukura Gorilla family got the name from the stream down Ruhija area. The stream is called Biizibitukura meaning the red water. The stream has red water which would change the colour of posho when used for cooking by the rangers on overnight patrols. It’s where the group was first located on the first day of habituation.

Nshongi Gorilla family was named after a small stream in Rushaga area called River Nshongi. (Omushongi literally meaning clear water)

Gorilla Habituation

Africa mountain gorillas in Uganda -There are some common questions commonly asked by clients like: What do you mean by Gorilla habituation? How do you do it? How long does it take? How do you identify a suitable family for habituation?    What to do when a habituated family comes out of the forest for crop raiding? Why do you limit Gorilla viewing to 60 minutes yet it’s very expensive? What happens when the Silverback dies? What do you do when a Gorilla contracts a disease transmitted by humans? Etc. Some of the answers are from experience and can’t be found anywhere including Google.

It is illegal for a Gorilla family to be tracked twice. The Gorilla tracking rules were set after carrying out Gorilla habituation impact assessment workshop. However those rules are sometimes violated for unclear reasons. Minimizing time and the frequency of Gorilla visitations was purposely to reduce stress and human exposure. The more time you spend with the Gorillas, the more time you put them on the risk to get the diseases from humans. The rules mainly are for Health reasons and giving them enough time to do or go ahead with their normal activities without much interference. Some people might think that it has no problem but it is not good at all. Remember they are in the wild and not in the zoo where animals are fed. Here Gorillas need enough time to feed, rest, play and prepare the bed for the night. Each activity has its time frame and i don’t think they allocate time to interact with humans. For those that are habituated might be okay but still used to meet once in a day and with normal limited time.

These rules are set in collaboration with all the three countries where mountains Gorillas live. They are harmonized through (IGCP) – International Gorilla Conservation Program which supports the trans-boundary management activities. If one of the countries tracks Gorillas twice, we considered it illegal.

You know we have two species of Gorillas, WESTERN and EASTERN GORILLAS. Western Gorillas are divided into two subspecies Western Lowland Gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) and Cross River Gorillas (gorilla gorilla diehli). EASTERN GORILLAS are also divided into two subspecies Eastern Lowland Gorillas (gorilla beringei grarueri) and Mountain Gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei).

Mountain Gorillas were discovered by the German researcher Captain Von Beringe on the 17th of October 1902 on the Mount Sabinyo. However Lowland Gorillas had been already discovered in West Africa by the French Zoologist ISIDORE GEOFFREY SAINT HILAIRE while on his research about some animal behaviour (ethology). While in the forests of Cameron, he came across a giant ape that charged and scratched the field assistants. He named the ape Gorilla meaning a scratcher in their local language and that was in 1852.

GORILLA LOCATIONS AND POPULATIONS

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS (gorilla beringei beringei) are now 1063 individuals. They leave in two population groups. One group in Bwindi Forest National Park found in Uganda and the second population in the Virunga Massif (Conservation Area shared by three countries) Where Mgahinga Gorilla National Park of Uganda, Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda and Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

EASTERN LOWLAND GORILLAS (gorilla beringei graueri) reduced from 5000 in 2004 to 3800 in 2016 due to poaching caused by civil unrest in their habitats. They are found in Democratic Republic of Congo in Kahuzi Biega National Park, Maiko National Park, Tyana Gorilla Reserve, Usala Forest and Itombwe Massif. They are the largest of all Gorilla species.

CROSS RIVER GORILLAS (gorilla gorilla diehli) are the rarest apes in Africa estimated to be between 250 and 300 individuals. They live in Cameron in Takamanda National Park (Mbe Mountain Forests). The second population live in Nigeria in Cross River National Park found in the Ago Mountain Forests.

WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLAS (gorilla gorilla gorilla) are the most wide spread Gorilla species. They are estimated to be over 100,000 individuals. They live in many West African countries including Cameron in Lobeke National Park, Central African Republic in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo in Naubale-Ndoki National Park, other countries like Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.