Where to find Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda? Mountain gorillas may be found in four protected areas in the Virunga region: the Virunga national park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Volcanoes national park of Rwanda, the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in the western part of Uganda. Gorillas exist in the wild and are quite rare in captivity.
The mountain gorilla was unknown to science until 1902, when two were found and quickly murdered by a German explorer during gorilla trekking in Volcanoes national park East Africa. It established the tone for the rest of the partnership. For much of the period since, it appeared that the mountain gorilla was doomed to extinction owing to deforestation and hunting.
There were less than 300 of the gigantic primates remaining in the wild not long after the species’ greatest defender, American scientist Dian Fossey, was assassinated in Rwanda in 1985.
Today, the Virunga Mountains in central Africa, at the crossroads of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are home to over half of the world’s 700 remaining mountain gorillas. The volcanic slopes here are rich with tropical forests and a varied range of animal, bird, and reptile species, but they are also in the core of a crisis-stricken region.
Gorillas can climb trees, but they prefer to live on the ground in groups of up to 30 people. These armies are arranged in intriguing social frameworks. Troops are led by a dominating, older adult male known as a silverback due to a swath of silver hair that covers his otherwise black fur.
Several additional young men, some females, and their kids make up the troops. The troop leader plans activities including as eating, nesting in leaves, and wandering throughout the group’s 0.75-to-16-square-mile (2-to-40-square-kilometer) home range. Mountain gorillas have longer hair than lowland gorillas and shorter arms. They are also slightly bigger than other gorillas.
Those who challenge this alpha male should be scared by remarkable displays of physical force. He can stand erect, fling objects, charge aggressively, and pound his massive chest while barking strong hoots or emitting a terrifying roar. Despite these demonstrations and the animals’ evident physical strength, gorillas are normally peaceful and nonaggressive unless disturbed. Female gorillas give birth to one baby after a nearly nine-month pregnancy.
In comparison to their formidable parents, infants are small, weighing barely four pounds (2 kilograms) and able to cling solely to their mothers’ fur. From the age of four months until the first two or three years of their life, these new-borns ride on their mothers’ backs.
Young gorillas, aged three to six years, resemble children to human observers. They spend much of their time playing, climbing trees, chasing each other, and dangling from branches.
While planning your Rwanda gorilla safari, do not overlook the great chance to explore Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, which is home to the six Virunga Volcanoes and the world-famous mountain gorillas. The mountains’ lushly wooded slopes provide an adequately dramatic natural environment for gorilla trekking, possibly the most heart-breaking and unforgettable wildlife encounter in the world.
The trackers are immersed in the mystical intimacy of the rainforest, filled with the sounds of colorful birds and the chattering of rare golden monkeys, after a thrilling ascent to the gorillas’ native home of shaded bamboo forest. Nothing can prepare you for the impact of witnessing a fully-grown silverback gorilla, which may grow up to three times the size of a normal man while remaining astonishingly peaceful and tolerant of human visitors.
The endangered gorilla population in the Virungas increased by nearly 20% in the early 2000s thanks to dedicated wildlife rangers, extensive monitoring, and community education programs. However, at least 10 gorillas died in Virunga National Park in 2007 as a result of murder and pandemonium. Other Virunga parks are doing well, as is the other half of the world’s surviving mountain gorilla population, which resides in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, just 24 kilometers north of the Virungas.
Many conservation programs are aimed towards helping mountain gorillas, and their numbers are thought to be stable or steadily growing. Nonetheless, they suffer significant dangers from habitat loss and hunting. Efforts to shift perceptions about the powerful creatures have resulted in their being a key source of cash for the local economy through the visitors they attract, and poachers becoming ardent conservation activists.
By adhering to these guidelines and purchasing the permit, you are also helping to save the mountain gorilla. The proceeds from the selling of this permit are used to operate the National Parks. A portion of the cash earned from park admission fees is also contributed to local people living near the parks to help them develop and improve natural resource management in the area.
