Africa’s Gorilla Conservation: Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo

Given that more organizations are pooling resources and that the number of primates continues to rise, the gorilla conservation status in Africa is favorable. Africa is home to a wide range of wildlife species that have provided significant social and economic benefits over time, making it one of the world’s top travel destinations. Even with these enormous advantages, African wildlife species are in danger of going extinct.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the mountain gorilla, Ethiopian wolf, Black rhino, Rothchild’s giraffe, chimpanzee, African pen, riverine rabbit, African wild dog, and pickergrill’s reedfrog on its Red list of endangered species that are vital to conservation and protection. One of the four categories of mountain gorillas is  There are gorillas in the Virunga volcanic mountains, which are located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northwestern Rwanda, and southwest Uganda. The mountain and lowland gorillas are the two primary species.

The Eastern and Western Lowland Gorillas are the two subspecies of the Lowland Gorillas. Four national parks—the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, the Virunga National Park in the Congo, the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, and the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda—are home to mountain gorillas. Mountain gorillas are mostly quadrupedal and terrestrial, and their fur is thicker and longer than that of their lowland cousins, which helps them withstand colder climates. Adult males’ hair is gray and silver, and they have a more noticeable bony crest. The term “silverback” refers to the backs that develop with age. Mountain gorillas are twice as heavy as their female counterparts, weighing between 195 and 200 kg. Their arms are longer than their legs, and they walk on their knuckles, using the backs of their curved fingers to support their weight.

Conservation of Mountain Gorillas: Population and Census

The number of mountain gorillas fluctuated between 1959 and 1960. George Schaller’s first gorilla census predicted that there were 400–500 gorillas in the Virunga protected area. Following this, Dian Fossey and her team from the Karisoke Research Center conducted gorilla censuses in 1971 and 1973, which revealed a sharp drop in gorilla populations, which had fallen to 250. This decrease was ascribed to due to a rise in poaching and the conversion of up to 40% of the area in volcanoes’ national parks to agricultural land. Census of Gorillas in Bwindi, Uganda42 of the approximately 260 gorillas in the Karisoke Research Center’s 1978 census were under three years old.

After Dian Fossey’s death in 1985, the 1989 census found that there were about 320 in the impenetrable forest of Bwindi and 324 in the Virunga protected area. In the Virunga protected area, the number progressively increased to 380 in 2003 and 480 in 2010, indicating a 26.3% rise in the gorilla population during a seven-year period. Censuses in Bwindi’s dense forest were conducted differently than those in the Virunga volcanoes, with the 1997 gorilla census revealing 300 people in all, up to 320 in 2002. However, the 2006 population census showed a drop to 302. In the 2006 gorilla census, 682 mountain gorillas were discovered in the impenetrable national parks of Bwindi and the Virunga region. This number increased by 138 in 2012, and the most recent gorilla census in 2018 reported over 1000 mountain gorillas in the wild.

Conservation and Protection of Gorillas

Even though the number of mountain gorillas has been steadily increasing over the past several years, these powerful primates nevertheless face a number of challenges from human activities that are said to have nearly driven them extinct in the early 1970s. These dangers can be broadly categorized as resulting from social, economic, and political circumstances. Mostly by humans.

Human populations continue to grow daily as the years pass. As a result, woods have been encroached upon for pastoral, agricultural, and human habitation purposes.

As a result, the mountain gorillas’ habitat, nesting grounds, and feeding areas have been lost. The mountain gorillas are therefore enticed to eat the human agricultural plantations due to a lack of food, which draws reprisal from the other end. The likelihood of human infectious diseases like pneumonia, flu, and most recently, Ebola, spreading to mountain gorillas is increased by increased human-gorilla interactions, such as towns and tourism activities like gorilla trekking. At least 20% of gorilla populations have experienced unexpected deaths due to disease. Humans’ growing economic requirements have also seen an increase of snares and traps used for poaching. Because mountain gorillas, especially young ones, can sell for up to $5,000 on the illegal market, poaching can be profitable.

The significant threat to mountain gorillas posed by political instability and civil conflicts, which have occurred in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent decades, is still something to think about. An estimated four million people have died as a result of the civil and political unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in just over ten years. In addition to killing mountain gorillas, this civil and political turmoil has resulted in habitat loss as a result of the overcrowding of refugee settlements by humanity. Additionally, it has been discovered that climate change is a danger Because of certain characteristics, such as their rates of productivity and genetic differences, mountain gorillas are susceptible to a variety of environmental changes.

Conservation of Mountain Gorillas

Following Dian Fossey’s arrival in Rwanda in the 1970s, conservation efforts for mountain gorillas began. American primatologist Dian Fossey dedicated her life to studying mountain gorillas and identifying alternate ways to help preserve the steadily declining population of mountain gorillas in East Africa. Our 3-Day Dian Fossey Hike and Gorilla Trekking is a great way to honor Dian Fossey. Rwandan Gorilla Conservation In order to help address the issues surrounding mountain gorillas in Africa, conservation efforts have so far been divided into three categories: active, theoretical, and community-based initiatives the area. Following that, governments have been actively involved in conservation efforts by working with other gorilla conservation organizations to develop and implement policies aimed at reaching the shared objective of a population of mountain gorillas free from threats.

The World Wild Fund for Nature, Fauna and Flora International, and the African Wildlife Foundation are the primary organizations involved in the conservation of mountain gorillas. In order to take the lead in mountain gorilla conservation, they co-founded the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) in 1991. Finding a balance between preserving mountain gorilla breeding habitats and addressing the varied and constantly expanding needs of communities has been the primary goal of conservation efforts. Individual and community-based analysis has emerged as a key strategy to do this.

Techniques have been implemented to attain a sustainable standard of living by providing these people with economic empowerment in alternative revenue-generating enterprises that would replace deforestation and unregulated access to natural resources within protected areas. In Uganda, mountain gorilla conservation has involved communities renting land to enlarge protected areas and relying on trust income from gorilla tourism to promote sustainable agriculture and develop and provide services to the communities. Other initiatives, like educating people about the value of animal conservation and incorporating them in decision-making, have also gained traction.

In addition to community-based initiatives like better accommodations and facilities, park headquarters have been renovated to promote tourists. Additional gorilla conservation measures include ranger patrols, disabling placed traps, conducting regular gorilla census counts in the concentrated mountain gorilla areas, and conducting on-ground protection of protected areas and enforcement of the legislation.

The mountain Because of the yearly cash it generates, gorilla tourism continues to be a significant asset for the nations where they are situated, giving them a competitive edge over their neighbors. In order to fully benefit from gorilla trekking, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo must coordinate their tourism and conservation initiatives.