While gorilla safaris are undeniably the most sought after primate experiences, the endeavors to protect these rare apes in African continent today is a great challenge since conservation efforts began. These unique creatures thrive only in three countries of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and their survival is at high risk of extinction. Today, they feature not more than 900 individuals that are left on earth and they are still threatened by human practices like poaching, human encroachment and illegal trade, spread of human infectious diseases and others making them a few most critically endangered apes in the world.
Efforts to protect their lives in the wilderness, Dian Fossey the famous American zoologist set up a research center between Mount Karisoke and Bisoke to aid research on how to protect and conserve the mountain gorillas from extinction. She fought against poaching but unfortunately was mysteriously killed and her body was buried next to her research center which today features among the most tremendous attractions in Rwanda.
Dian Fossey because a believer that gorilla tourism is an important criteria which can facilitate endangered apes conservation and protection to earn foreign exchange from mountain gorilla adventures, helping in funding conservation programs in most of the protected areas where these special creatures thrive. It is of no doubt that gorilla tours have become a major attractions that generate foreign exchange in central and East Africa.
Governments from respective gorilla destinations also initiated an annual profit sharing scheme in which a certain percentage of income collection from gorilla tourism is returned to the adjacent communities of the park as a way to aid local projects helping to boost their livelihoods.
When it comes to gorilla trekking, permits are a must to have for every visitors who intends to undertake this lifetime experience and they come in different amounts depending on the destination. In Uganda, gorilla permits are obtainable at $600 per person, Rwanda permits are sold at $1500 per tourist and $400 per trekker in the DR Congo.
How are gorillas being protected?
Strict rules and guidelines have been set for trekkers to as they play a major role towards protection of the endangered mountain gorillas in the wild and their environment from human encroachment. For every visit go the gorillas, tourists must attend briefing from a head guide on how to conduct during the trek and with the gorillas. Among other rules, visitors must maintain a distance of about 7 (seven) meters at all times from gorillas. Other rules include no drinking, no eating or even smoking while in the forest, no tracking gorillas when you are sick, do not touch gorillas and others. These precautions are a must to be observed by any visitors on gorilla safari to Africa and they play a great role in conserving gorillas from the increasing threats especially from the spread of human infectious diseases.
Today the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is employing tourism police to protect national park boundaries from encroachers and given the profit sharing initiative mountain gorilla and wildlife conservation has become a communal responsibility in which local resident don’t go against habitat conservation where these critically endangered apes thrive from. Gorilla tracking has however featured as a true sustainable tourism adventure given that it has become an overall effort not to destabilize the habitat where most of these rare species thrive.
Another protective measure is the limit of the tourists numbers going to see a single gorilla family, only a group of 8 (eight) people are allowed to track one group of gorillas and only one hour is allowed for one to have a face to face encounter with gorillas in the wild and this rule is highly observed.
In conclusion, through gorilla trekking ecotourism can be supported and boosted in many ways given that this adventure features as the most sought after experience in the world today. And there has been some gradual increase in the number of gorillas compared to the previous times though more conservation efforts are still needed to ensure that they are protected from extinction.
