Mountain Gorillas in Mgahinga
Mountain gorillas form the main attraction at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, which protects the Ugandan portion of the Virungas, an imposing string of nine freestanding extinct and active volcanoes that runs along the border with Rwanda and the Congo. These Gorilla groups frequently ‘pop in’ and take temporary residence for a couple of months at a stretch.
There are two species of gorillas in this world that is eastern and western gorillas and the species are divided into subspecies. The eastern gorillas have the mountain gorillas and eastern lowland gorillas and the western gorillas have the western lowland gorillas and the cross river gorillas. These gorillas are classified due to the locality they live in.
These kinds of gorillas are called mountain gorillas due to the fact that they live in cool tropical forest ranges/mountains of the eastern region of Africa. That is at Virunga massif at the border of Uganda, Rwanda and DR. Congo and kigezi highland region of Uganda. The mountain gorillas are very huge and have too much fur on their bodies compared to other gorillas since they live in cooler areas.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Gorilla
Species: G. beringei
Subspecies: G. b. berengei
Mountain Gorillas live in forests high in the mountains and hills, at approximate elevations of 8,000 to 13,000 feet above the sea level. Mountain Gorillas have thicker fur, and more of it, compared to other great apes like chimpanzee, bonobos, and baboons among others. Their thick fur helps them to survive in a habitat where temperatures often drop below freezing- in other words, the thick fur of Mountain Gorillas provides them warmth. Due to human intervention, Mountain Gorillas have decided to move up into the mountains for longer periods, forcing them to endure dangerous and sometimes deadly conditions.
The mountain gorillas are endangered species of animals as indicated by the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) in red list. There are only about 900 mountain gorillas left in the world and if not preserved and conserved they will be no more mountain gorillas yet there are very important in the ecosystem and also as an attraction in the tourism world. Different organizations have come up to save these gorillas from getting extinct both government and non government organization. Some of the notable ones are Diana Fossey foundation, Gorilla Doctors, International Union of Conservation for Nature and Friend a Gorilla amongst the special ones. These organizations are lobbying efforts in order to save the gorillas. Some of the efforts being put up are training a team to monitor the well being of the gorillas and also to protect them from poachers, they are also sensitizing the locals the importance of the gorillas in the wild.
The main effort that was put up is the mountain gorillas were gazetted and protected in their locale in that they do not compete for shelter with people. Their habitats were made national parks that are protected by the governments of the countries where the gorillas exist. There are four national parks in the world where mountain gorillas are found and these are volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park in Congo and Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks in Uganda. These are the place where a person can get a connection with the mountain gorillas to witness how lovely they are. Thousands of people visit these national parks to hang out with the mountain gorillas.
The activity to meet and watch the gorillas in the wild is called gorilla trekking. This adventure activity involves hiking through the tropical forested mountains of the east central region of Africa to watch the gorillas in their wild. It takes 2-6 hours to find the gorillas in their locale. The gorillas are normally found in a group of 10-30 individuals being led by the silverback the head of the family. The gorilla trackers/visitors normally spend one hour with the gorillas as they watch the gorillas forage, play, communicate intelligently as though they are real humans. The trackers on gorilla safaris also take photos of the gorillas in the wild and these pictures are always magnificent to see when you get back home.
Quick Facts & Information About the Mountain Gorillas
The mountain gorillas live in groups that can range in sizes from 2 to 30 or to 40, but most often in groups of 11. There is no mating season and babies are born all year long. Males start breeding at about 15 years of age and females give birth from 10 to 12 years old. Females give birth every two to three years giving 4 to 6 offspring during their lifespan after a pregnancy of 8.5 months. Unlike their powerful parents, newborns are tiny weighing four pounds and able only to cling to their mothers’ fur. These infants ride on their mothers’ backs from the age of four months through the first two or three years of their lives.
Quick Facts
Mountain gorillas are among the the most endangered primate species that are only found in three countries in the world. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is one of the four national parks that inhabit the forested mountains in southwestern Uganda. In Africa, mountain gorillas are commonly found in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Forest National Park in Uganda, Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Volcanoes National park among others. The statistics shows that mountain gorillas are mostly visited compared to Cross River Gorillas, Western gorillas and Cross River Gorillas.
Gorilla Watching in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Together with the Bwindi impenetrable National Park, these are the only two Ugandan parks that were gazetted by the Uganda government to protect the endangered mountain gorillas.
Many tourists visit the Mgahinga National Park for gorilla trekking, though there are many other wild animals that inhabit the forest. Currently there is only one habituated gorilla group that can be visited by the tourists – Nyakagezi Gorilla Group.
The mountain gorillas in Mgahinga National Park live in families that comprise of several individuals. Each family is led by the strongest male mountain gorillas called a silverback. This silverback is always in charge of protecting its family against any intrusion and usually determines the daily routine. The silverback usually leads its subordinates to different parts of the jungle searching for fresh plant leaves and new places for building new nests for the night.
Mountain gorillas’ being mobile animals makes tracking them a little prolonged to take about 1 to 8 hours of hiking the forest depending on their movement and following their trails as directed by the rangers. Some mountain gorillas can be got to after short hours of hike (like 2 hours) while others are stubborn and tend to go far away to the higher slopes of the mountains and these are the ones that can be got after longer hours of hike.
Gorilla Families
There is one habituated gorilla group in the park that can be visited by tourists. It is called the Nyakagezi Family and consists of 9 members, 4 silverbacks, 2 female adults, 1 juvenile and 2 infant. However, due to their constant movement it is advisable to check the current location of the gorillas first. Gorilla tracking can be strenuous and may take the whole day. The guide leads you through the gorilla’s world, explaining aspects of their ecology and behavior along the way. The mountain gorilla families that are tracked are habituated and can therefore withstand tourist’s presence in their environments. Tourists are therefore allowed to be in the presence of the mountain gorillas for strictly one hour. The one hours is just enough for fascinating one on one with the gorillas as well as taking photographs. After it elapses, tourists are again guided back to the national park headquarters where they are given certificates of participation. Tourists are restricted to be with the mountain gorillas for only one hour because they have about 98%DNA similar to humans and being near human beings for long exposes them to easily contracting human diseases. Tourists’ being in the presence of the gorillas for one hour also reduces the chances of behavioral change among the mountain gorillas.
All About Gorillas
The Mgahinga Gorillas’ natural habitats cover up tropical or subtropical forests. They inhabit the Albertine Rift Montane forests of the Virunga Volcanoes ranging in altitude from 2,200-4300 meters. In other words, the natural habitat for Gorillas is that they live in abundant and green vegetation.
Food & Diet
Mountain gorillas mainly feed on green plant parts, whereas lowland gorillas eat a lot of fruit. However, in the dry season only a few juicy fruits are available and so the animals have to eat more seeds and tree bark instead. Usually, fruits grow on trees; gorillas of all ages climb these trees to harvest them. An adult male gorilla may consume more than 18 kg of vegetation per day. Gorillas don’t always drink water simply because they consume vegetation that has a lot of water and morning dew. Mountain gorillas are herbivores, feeding on plants like wild celery, thistle, and nettles about 150 various plants. Special trees are bamboo and bracket fungus. Their food plants grow profusely in the cool, moist mountain climate of their range in Rwanda, Congo and Uganda. During the rainy season because the bamboos are tender and green, the bamboo shoots contain 84% of water with an extra of trocatea, flowers, stems, roots, soft bamboo leaves as well as the dry season black berries that act as a delicacy for the mountain gorillas.
To be able to process these masses of plant material, gorillas have very strong chewing muscles. Their teeth are much like human teeth, except for the very long, pointed canines of adult gorilla males.
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