Category: News

Uganda Wildlife Authority as well as Uganda Tourism Board has confirmed that they will increase the cost of the gorilla permits after Rwanda doubled the fee from $750 to $ 1500 per person tracking. The $600 charge for the Ugandan permit will remain at the same rate for 12 months and this has been promised by the authorities. The executive director of UWA said that Gorillas are one of the World’s most valuable natural resources and their conservation is the fore front for UWA’s decisions. This will help in allowing the global travelers the chance to fulfil their lifelong dreams to view these animals and is also the key to their conservation.

By increasing the price of the permits, we shall be allowing only a group of people to travel to Uganda and discouraging the low income earners and also denying them an opportunity of tracking these beautiful primates. In addition, having the international tourists staying at many of the grade hotels and lodges also means that locally owned business will fully benefit.

This idea will also help Uganda to look after its mountain gorillas well. More so, the increase in gorilla permits in Rwanda will unavoidably have a knock on the effect on tourism in Uganda where the cost of permits is less. The percentage of the money that is obtained by the use of a gorilla permit also contributes to the primate’s survival, there was a recent baby boom that gave hope to conservationists and travellers that are looking for this one time life adventure.

Rwanda also puts it that the increase in the cost of the permit fees have been made to preserve the gorillas and also conserve their natural habitat, there is also an understanding that the percentage of the permit fee is given to the local communities, which helps in contributing towards the funding of schools, hospitals and libraries, and has also increased to ensure that tourism in Rwanda remains so sustainable and also gives something back to the community across the country.

The gorilla permit fees in Rwanda also apply to the nationals while Uganda offers a discount to the nationals in order to encourage them to visit the mountain gorillas. Uganda is also committed to protecting the natural resources as well as welcoming the tourists to view the most amazing wildlife. The price of gorilla permits in Uganda remain at $600 per person and $400 for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The gorillas in Rwanda are found in Volcanoes National Park, in Uganda are found in Bwindi Impenetrable National park which in Congo they are found in Virunga mountain ranges. All the three countries are good for gorilla trekking throughout the year.

Two new gorilla groups have been habituated for gorilla tourism in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. These two groups that have been undergoing the mandatory habituation process are now available and open to tourists who would like to meet the mountain gorillas in the wild of Bwindi.

The news for the habituation has been well received by tour operators organising gorilla safaris in Uganda given the high demand for the gorilla permits most especially in the peak months of June to September and December to March.

The two new families of mountain gorillas that have been habituated for tourism are within the popular Nkuringo Sector in the South of the park. The groups have been established by the Uganda Wildlife Authority as Bushaho and Bikingi that are named for their home ranges and contain some individuals from previously habituated groups.

Both groups were led by former Nkuringo group silverbacks, Bahati and Bikingi. There are 8 babies between these two groups (6 in Bikingi and 2 in Bushaho)!

Now that the two groups have been fully habituated for tourism and added into the Uganda Wildlife Authority gorilla permit database, the total number of gorilla families in all four regions of the Bwindi Impenetrale Forest has now increased to 12 families. This means that there are more gorilla permits readily available for tourists leading to a total of 96 gorilla permits in Bwindi and 8 gorilla permits for Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Therefore if you are planning a gorilla trekking safari, look no further than Bwindi National Park, a haven for almost half of the world’s remnant population of the mountain gorillas.

The Habituation Process

The gorilla habituation allows veterinarians to visit the groups regularly so that they can become used to human prescence. The process takes between 2 to 4 years and it becomes easier if the gorilla family used to live in a formely habituated family. During the process, the veterinary doctors also known as “Gorilla Doctors” closely monitor them for any sign of illness or injury – and intervene to save a life when it is necessary.

The process also allows the rangers to monitor the group on a daily basis and report a gorilla who has become caught in a poacher’s snare so that veterinarians can intervene and administer the necessary treatment immediately.

Uganda has welcomed a new baby gorilla born in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The baby gorilla was found on the 11/September/2016 by the trackers who had gone to track the gorillas of the Bikyingi group, one of the habituated gorilla families that tourists visit in Bwindi Forest. It was also believed to have been born on the previous day and this new born brings the number of gorilla individuals within the group to 22.

The Bikyingi gorilla group is found in Rushaga, south of Bwindi Impenetrable National park and has got 21 individuals including; 1 silver back, 9 adult females, 2 sub adults, and 9 infants. This is one of the two groups that are undergoing the habituation process in the park. The Bikyingi is a group which is famous for the Gorilla habituation Expereince that is carried out at the moment. This process started in 2013 while the experience started in January 2015. It’s also known that the last birth among these gorillas in Bwindi was on 21^st /08/2016 with in Bushabo which is a group under the habituation located in the Nkuringo with in the southern sector of the park.

This group was first sited in the Bikyingi area which is near the Rushaga before the process to habituate started so it was decided to be named it according to the area. The only silver back and also the leader of the group is called Bikyingi, the naming of the other gorilla individuals has not yet been done since the gorillas are shy and not fully habituated. And therefore the mother of the new born doesn’t have a name at the moment.

The other thing about this group is that the silver back called Bikyingi is so friendly to all of the babies in the group and is also always with them at most of the times. The babies also normally go to their mothers to breast feed and then return to the silver back as soon as they get done with it. This is also the reason why it’s hard to determine the mothers of each baby as all the adult females within the group.

Over half of the mountain gorillas living in Uganda and according to the 2012 November census results that were released by the Uganda Minister of Tourism wildlife and antiquities, the mountain gorilla population is on high increase. There are over 400 gorillas from 302 of 2006 with in Bwindi Impenetrable national Park alone and 80 in Mgahinga Gorilla national park which makes 480 mountain gorillas in Uganda.

There are 36 gorilla families with in Bwindi impenetrable national Park and only 11 of these are habituated and can be accessed by the guests. The migratory group is in Mgahinga frequently moves between Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo and they seem unpredictable. Gorilla habituation is also the process that takes two years and over this time, the gorillas usually get used to human beings and they remain doing their routine activities with in the wilderness even when the humans are present. More so according to Uganda wildlife Authority conservation rules, only eight adults are allowed to track each of the habituated gorilla group each day. This means that there are over 88 gorilla tracking permits each and every day along with the 8 of the Ngahinga family.

These gorillas also move to new places each and every day and will never stay in one place twice. The trek terrain might be different but the time spent is also unpredictable. More so a 2 or 3 hour trek could also be a 6 to 7 hours. Booking a gorilla permit can be done by a preferred tour agency in advance.

It is with sadness that I must report the death a Janja’s baby, Burungani. A week ago, we received news the Rugendo family was eating maize and sorghum crops outside the park near Sarambwe. Such behavior puts the mountain gorillas in grave danger of being injured or killed by angry villagers, so rangers from the Bukima patrol post headed out immediately to find them. When they located the family, the rangers noticed that Janja was carrying the lifeless body of her baby, Burungani. The rangers immediately contacted me at Rumangabo headquarters, but because of the late hour, I had to wait until the next morning to investigate.

The following morning, I headed to Bukima on a park motorcycle and made it there by 09:30. Together with a fellow ranger and a community volunteer (HUGO), I set out to find the Rugendo group. We walked for five hours before finally finding them at Mugogo. The first family members that we saw were silverback Kongomani and sub-adult Christmas. They were outside the park, feeding in a field of sorghum and maize, while the other four remained just inside the park boundary, apparently afraid to leave. When Kongomani and Christmas saw us, they too acted afraid and made a fast retreat back into the park. We calmly followed them and were eventually allowed to approach, but the family was acting uncharacteristically agitated. As the rangers had reported the previous day, Janja was still carrying her dead baby with her. No matter how many times one sees such a thing, it still difficult to witness.

Determined to figure out why this baby died, we scanned the baby over and over again from a short distance away. Finally, when Janja repositioned herself we could see a deep wound on the baby’s arm. The wound was so deep one could see the bones in the baby’s elbow. We all came to the same terrible conclusion: this baby had been attacked by people. Our best guess is that villagers were furious at the gorillas for pillaging their crops and assaulted them. It’s difficult to make sense of such a cruel act, but times are very hard and people will go to desperate lengths to protect their livelihoods. With the killing of the three buffalo and now this, there is reason to be alarmed. We simply must get an electric fence in place quickly to avoid such incidents in the future.

Baby Burungani was less than nine months old. Janja is still carrying him, but we expect she will come to terms with her loss soon. When she does, we will recover his body and the Gorilla Doctors will perform an autopsy so that the cause of death can be confirmed.

Mountain Gorilla tracking is an amazing wildlife safari that can only done in Uganda Rwanda and Congo. Today, Congo is very safe for gorilla tracking and you can plan a gorilla trek with selected Congo Tour Operators. Check out the different tours and safaris offered as special offers by a few selected gorilla tour operators.

Conflict between people and animals is one of the main threats to the continued survival of many wildlife species and also represents risks to local human populations. If such conflicts are not addressed adequately, local support for conservation declines drastically. Therefore resolving human-wildlife conflict is a key issue for the future of wildlife conservation (Woodroffe et al. 2005).

In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, critically endangered mountain gorillas sometimes range outside the park and crop-raid. Gorilla crop-raiding and ranging outside pose threats to local communities, such as crop damage and loss, anxiety, injury and personal danger. On the other hand, gorillas face increased risks of disease transmission from humans and livestock, uncontrolled contact with humans and waste, harassment by local people and even retaliation killing (Goldsmith et al. 2006, Madden 2006, Hockings & Humle 2009). Bwindi is surrounded by one of the highest rural population densities (more than 300 people per km²) worldwide and all the land adjacent to the park is managed by local communities. Once gorillas leave Bwindi, they typically find themselves in people’s agricultural plots or uncultivated land. Though gorillas are only one of several species that crop-raid in Bwindi, they draw a lot of attention due to their size, the damage they may cause and the economic value they represent. Furthermore, the density of gorillas in Bwindi is most likely increasing (Roy et al. 2014) and if ongoing conservation management practices succeed, the population will likely continue to increase. Hence it can be expected that the extent of human-gorilla conflict will exacerbate, presumably leading to some gorilla groups ranging outside the park and placing greater pressure on local livelihoods.

Human-gorilla conflict is one of the major conservation concerns for Bwindi gorillas. The frequency of leaving the park and crop-raiding varies drastically for the different habituated groups. One group, the Nkuringo group, spends more time outside the park than inside and crop-raids more often than any other group. In 2005, a buffer zone was established by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the International Gorilla Conservation Programme to counteract this group’s ranging and crop-raiding behaviour. However, this zone was not well managed, allowing for herbaceous vegetation and fruit trees to regenerate, creating excellent habitat for gorillas (Goldsmith et al. 2006, Kalpers et al. 2010). Ultimately, in June 2013 the buffer zone was cleared for tea plantations.

Many factors have been suggested to cause gorillas to range outside Bwindi, including a lack of food resources inside the forest. Therefore we examined whether food scarcity inside the park or the availability of certain food resources, such as palatable crops, outside Bwindi caused the gorillas to leave the park. We wanted to investigate the behavior of all habituated groups, not only the groups that were known to crop-raid as we were also interested to know why some groups do not leave the park and do not crop-raid. We examined the ranging and crop-raiding behavior of 13 habituated groups of mountain gorillas, located in three general locations (Ruhija, Buhoma and Rushaga) throughout the park for a period of 13 months from May 2012 to June 2013. To do so, we trained 11 local research and field assistants to collect data on the gorilla groups’ ranging, behavior, diet, and crop-raiding patterns. Additionally, these assistants were trained in monitoring almost 800 tagged trees for fruit every month to calculate an estimate of fruit availability per location.

Besides collecting data on gorilla behaviour, we worked with four field assistants with botany experience, who formed the vegetation sampling team. Over two years, they helped in counting and measuring of ~94,000 plants and trees throughout the gorillas’ home ranges to get an estimate of the availability of herbaceous plants for each group inside the forest. As we were also interested in estimating food availability outside the park, we walked ~56 km recording all crops and land-use practices in 50 m parallel to the park boundary. We crossed swamps, walked through herds of cattle and fields of maize, had to avoid steep ravines and cliffs, slid down steep-sided hills and were exposed to either hot sunshine in the dry season or pouring rain and slippery hills in the rainy season.

Our results revealed that Bwindi gorillas leave the park to feed on herbaceous vegetation growing in tea and pine plantations and on uncultivated land outside the forest as well as on palatable crops growing in people’s gardens. A lack of food resources within the forest was not causing the gorillas to leave the park or to crop-raid. We found that tea did not deter gorillas from leaving the park. We think this is because tea plantations contain herbaceous foods regularly consumed by the gorillas. Furthermore, these plantations currently do not form a continuous barrier to stop gorillas from venturing further into community land.

The loss of fear of humans by habituated gorillas also has been suggested to play a role in the crop-raiding behavior of mountain gorillas. However, the Oruzogo group, a group habituated only in the past few years crop-raided, whereas the Kyaguliro group which is habituated since the early 1990s has never been recorded to crop-raid. Additionally, the conservation area manager of Bwindi reported unhabituated groups to crop-raid. Hence, we think that the level of habituation does not play a major role.

To stop gorillas from utilizing areas outside the national park, we recommend turning land adjacent to Bwindi into unattractive habitat. This could be done by planting buffer crops that are high in fiber and secondary compounds, but low in sugar and sodium. Furthermore, we think plantation of crops like bananas or eucalyptus should be avoided as they seem to attract gorillas. We recommend removing herbaceous foods growing on uncultivated land and plantations and subsequently maintaining the land to keep it clear of foods consumed by the gorillas. If planted continuously around Bwindi and kept clear of herbs, tea plantations might be the best strategy to stop gorillas from traveling into community land. The buffer zone near the Nkuringo group was planted with tea in 2013, which should alleviate much of the problem if the area is properly managed. However, it will be important to assess the effect of tea in the buffer zone on the ranging and crop-raiding behavior of Nkuringo group.

Implementing park wide wildlife sensitive land-use strategies adjacent to Bwindi is crucial to prevent this conflict from intensifying. Lastly, this study nicely shows that research and management have to work hand in hand to implement appropriate management strategies to conserve Bwindi mountain gorillas. While many of the results of this study may be specific to Bwindi, this study also emphasizes the importance of using research to guide management decisions for conservation of gorillas and other species.

NKURINGO, BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK

SAMEHE, One of the most senior adult female mountain gorillas of Nkuringo family in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda finally breathed her last on Saturday night, March 26. The adult female and mother of two, believed to have been 19 years old, succumbed to deep bodily wounds sustained in early February this year, during internal fights within the family.

The Veterinary experts from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for nearly two months, have been putting their efforts together to save the adult female from the life threatening wounds, particularly the one on her head.

Samehe was a daughter of Nkuringo the head of the group. She is survived by two daughters namely Magara aged 9 and Juvenile Fulaha who is merely 3.5 years old. Samehe is a Kiswahili word for “Forgive” and was given to this lady by rangers who were indirectly pleading with the dominant silverback, Safari, to reduce the ranging home that was making it difficult to monitor during the gorilla habituation. The names of her daughters are equally meaningful with Magara referring to Good health or being lively while Fula means to be Happy in Kiswahili.

According to the UWA rangers who monitor the gorilla movements and health and a daily basis, Samehe, weighing over 70kg sustained multiple wounds in early February this year during intra-group conflicts. Field veterinary doctors say Samehe was  an adult female who started cycling and mating again when her infant reached 3.5 years. For 4 days, all 6 adult males in the group surrounded her and tried to mate with her, and surprisingly attacked her multiple times.

Feuds within the group turned fierce and all the males and some of the other females and infants were showing signs of various bites and scratches all over their backs, arms, hands and faces. Samehe was observed with multiple injuries, of which the most serious on the left hand, but none were life threatening  till on 14 February when  she was found with the left side bone exposing head trauma with the exposed skull and large loose flap of skin falling down to the eyebrows.

The MGVP doctors did an intervention on 16 February, cleaning the wound and partly stitching the flap to cover the exposed skull bone. Samehe received antibiotics – 4g of Ceftriaxone im, on 16 Feb, 19 Feb and again in early March. Samehe was followed by the UWA trackers and was reported to become stronger and start feeding on 18 February.
However on March 15, Dr. Fred Nizeyimana, the MGVP field doctor based in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park reported that Samehe was weak and isolated from the rest of the Nkuringo family.  On March 16, the doctors found the female gorilla in the same place she had been left the previous day. She was hiding in the thicket and tried to avoid members, but she was visibly weak. She was walking away from members, and finally went into a small cave under some tree roots at the bottom of the river bank.

The wounds on her ear and hand were healed, but the bottom part of the head wound deteriorated further: no healthy granulation was present, but necrosis and multiple maggots were seen in the deep cavity in front of the left ear. The group was some kilometers away. An anesthetic dart was prepared and Samehe was darted into her glutei area. She walked out of the cave and moved some 30 meters, after which she sat down and fell asleep within 6 minutes.

Samehe was given the pharmacy of supporting drugs:  big doses of fluids, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic. Though her heart was very weak, she kept stable throughout anesthesia and slowly woke up after the reversal.

On March 19, the doctors found the female alone in the same area as previously on the February 16. She was visibly stressed with human presence and kept running away on our approach. At this stage it was impossible to assess the wound. It was also raining constantly since midday.

R.I.P Samehe (1992 – 2011)