Facts about tracking mountain gorillas

Mountain gorillas are known primates in the world, they are the largest living among other species of primates, Mountain gorillas exist and survive in ecosystems of high altitude, they are found in only Uganda, Rwanda and the democratic republic of Congo, Uganda hosts half of the world’s remaining population of the Mountain gorillas living in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the south western corner of Uganda and the other half in the great Virunga Volcanic region. An encounter with these great apes is one of the best world feelings one can ever experience they share similar characteristics as humans.

Mountain gorillas are a sub species of the eastern gorillas, these are distinctive from the lowland gorillas, these have been listed by the IUCN as critically endangered species, tracking mountain gorillas is such an interesting activity, it is a hot spot for many travellers, this is one of those few exiting experiences, the terrain of the high altitudinal zone may be so tough but all this feeling will go away once you encounter the beautiful creatures, these over it is unfortunate that there a few about 880 members only in the wild, a big thanks to the conservationists there has been an increase in gorilla population.

Mountain gorillas are highly intelligent species said to share up to 98% of the human DNA, they have the ability to use tools in some cases these have been sighted using sticks to pick termites, the peel off tree branches and pre pare their food before eating it they mostly eat plants, fruits, mush rooms, and dead tree backs, these ones solemnly feed in one position reason they are on constant move from one direction to another, Baby gorillas live under the care of their parents up to the age of 2 years old. Gorillas do nest on the ground their family count can be predicted by how much pop is found around the nests. The brown eyed gentle species live in groups of up to 20 members led by a strong Male silver back, in most cases if there merges a team with two of these, they are forced to split ways hence forming another team they can lead. Other Males in the group include Juveniles, black backs, females and infants.

The dominant silverback is the one who dictates on what to do next in the ground, they find new feeding ground and are supportive of the others, the silver back is 10 times stronger than humans, the primates spend most of their time feeding in the mornings and evenings, remaining hours are spent resting and jumping up and down of trees, they eat over 17 kilograms of vegetation in a day to support their massive bodies, females leave their groups at the age of 9 when fully mature and find a solo male silver back in another group, they carry their babies for a period of 9 months just like humans and infants are born at the weight of 1.8 kilograms.

There are habituated gorilla families in the wilderness, this implies that they have been trained to contain human presence, the main activity is the gorilla trekking experience and gorilla habituation, in groups of 8 per gorilla family you are allowed to track the primates, the sessions last for 2 hours or more depending on how far the gorilla families have moved,, it is important to book permits in time, the Ugandan permit is purchased at $700 per person for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents and 250,000 shillings for east African residents.

This is done while following the gorilla rules and regulations, which include keeping the 7 meter distance, guests with communicable diseases are not allowed to do the activity, guests below the age of 15 years are not allowed, all individuals are can track gorillas, for cases where guests are unable to walk to the point, they can be carried on Sedan chairs, hire a porter for the best experience. These can be visited all year round, gorillas are wild animals hence it doesn’t guarantee at 100% you will see them, they know no boundaries and can move to neighbouring states any time pack proper for your gorillas as the highlands are cold , you may consider to bring gaiters, water proof boots, warm clothes, insect repellents and any other items of personal nature.