When it comes to rare mammal species in Uganda, almost immediately the mountain gorilla is mentioned. All gorilla subspecies are critically endangered by both natural and human activities that hinder them to continue thriving in their natural settings.
Mountain gorilla conservation is one of the successful wildlife conservation projects in Africa.
It is every one’s call to conserve and protect wild life (flora and fauna)in its natural habitat. Apart from abstaining from environmental degrading activities, anyone can protect the creatures of the wild through sensitizing the population / public. Sensitizing the people involves educating people / creating awareness about the advantages of wildlife and the disadvantages involved in the destruction of wildlife. Once people are well informed, the wild is at safety.
This a activity is usually done by the tourism boards in their respective countries i.e. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in Uganda, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) FOR Rwanda among others. These usually carry out or promote continued community sensitization on the environment, the wildlife and more so on mountain gorillas. Through their various departments, they implement this plan in which they pass over wildlife conservation, preservation and protection messages to the local communities.
It ( community sensitization) is a continuous process which gets everyone involved, once you have acquired information on the wildlife, especially mountain gorillas, it becomes your role to pass on this information to others like friends, family, and colleagues.
The information learned may be about how to trek mountain gorillas and the rules for trekking these creatures
- Don’t trek feeling sick,
- avoid too much closeness with these creatures / stay about 7 meters away from the gorillas
- avoid using bright flash lights when photographing,
- retain to one hour of interaction with these animals, etc.) and so much more on these creatures together with the efforts being made to save them.
However, it should be noted that all the struggles and strategies that have been put in place for the well being of wildlife in its natural habitat have registered good or positive results so far. Looking at the mountain gorillas from their initial conservation numbers in the 1980s under Scientist Dian Fossey’s project where about 250 mountain gorillas were counted. Currently there is a gradual rise in their numbers due to increased and intensified protection and are about 880 gorillas registered in the world records today.
Therefore, with continued and improved environmental and wildlife conservation, preservation and protection, the numbers of these endangered creatures may go up to 1000s and more.
Threats to Gorilla Conservation
There are several threats to gorilla conservation. These include:
Habitat Loss
Habitat loss and modification due to human activity is a primary threat to gorilla survival. Agriculture, logging, fuel wood and forest product collection, and grazing domestic animals all degrade gorilla habitat and are problems that only increase as the human population in Africa grows.
Invasive Alien Species
Gorillas are highly susceptible to human diseases, and where they are not immune to. The influx of poachers, soldiers, local communities, and domestic animals facilitates the spread of pathogens in small communities.
Harvesting (hunting/gathering)
More threatening than habitat loss in some areas, hunting of gorillas for meat as well as capture of animals for collections are other hazards greatly affecting gorilla populations across Africa. Where human populations encroach on gorilla habitat and forest products such as fuel wood and timber are sought, poaching is generally also a problem. There are strict rules that have been set to safe guard the boundaries of the national parks.
The bush meat market targets more animals than primates, snares and traps are set for duikers, pigs, and rodents as well Unfortunately, snares are frequent causes of human-induced injuries to gorillas and can lead to loss of limbs or severely painful deaths if not treated (Gorillas that are caught in snares struggle to free themselves and are often cut on their limbs, hands, and feet; if these cuts become infected, without proper medical attention, the gorilla may likely die
Accidental Mortality
There are accidents that have been reported in the neighboring Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. One of the eldest gorilla in the families of Bwindi died from the accident where it fall off the branch.
Natural Disasters
Fires started outside their range by local farmers, hunters, and pastoralists can get out of control and sweep through the dry forest, causing significant damage.
Human Disturbance
War and civil unrest are indisputable causes of loss of biodiversity in Africa. Well armed insurgents seek refuge in forests, move between borders, set up camps and kill gorillas for subsistence usage or sport. Moreover, masses of displaced people seek food and shelter as they flee from violent conflict. This has resulted in large tracts of land being cleared for fuel wood, hunting of gorillas for food, and transmission of disease between humans and gorillas.
Large and imposing, gorillas are often perceived as dangerous by most humans who share their range and their image is not helped when they periodically raid plantations in some areas Furthermore, gorillas that attack and seriously injure farmers on land adjacent to parks are even more despised and targets for retaliation Natural Disasters.
Diseases Threatening Mountain Gorillas
Gorillas can get infected with most diseases suffered by humans. For this reason it is very important that tourists keep as far away from the animals as possible. The wet and cold climate highly affects gorillas since they are not friendly with such an environment. Diseases like pneumonia are the most frequent cause of death in mountain gorillas.
Most free ranging gorillas have parasites mainly intestinal parasites. Some of these parasites affect both humans and gorillas. Various malaria parasites also affect gorillas but usually are different species than those that affect humans. Many gorillas hurt themselves when they get entangled in a snare with both a hand and foot. The wound can get infected and the gorilla may die from such an injury.
Gorillas only rarely have teeth cavities, mountain gorillas in particular never suffer from it, as their food contains very little fruit and hence little sugar. Instead, in the mountain gorillas bad tartar leads to periodontitis dissolving of the jaw bones and finally to the loss of teeth.
For unknown reasons, Mountain Gorillas that have been studied appear to be naturally afraid of certain reptiles. Infants, whose natural behavior is to chase anything that moves, will go out of their way to avoid chameleons and caterpillars. Koko, the western lowland female gorilla trained in sign language, is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language, and understand approximately 2,000 words of spoken English, is afraid of crocodiles and alligators, even though she was born in captivity and has never seen them. They are also afraid of water and will cross streams only if they can do so without getting wet (i.e. crossing over fallen logs). Dian Fossey observed and noted the Mountain Gorilla’s obvious dislike of rain, as well.
When the dominant silverback gorilla dies or is killed by disease, accident, or poachers, the family group may be severely disrupted. Unless he leaves behind a male descendant capable of taking over his position, the group will either split up or be taken over in its entirety by an unrelated male. When a new silverback takes control of a group family, he may kill all of the infants of the dead silverback. This practice of infanticide is an effective reproductive strategy, in that the newly acquired females are then able to conceive the new male’s offspring. Infanticide has not been observed in stable groups.
For many centuries, Africans have been hunting and killing the lowlands gorilla. For some years, gorilla meat was their only source of meat. For as long as the gorilla has been discovered, there has been considerable fear and loathing of the ape. This has lead to many attacks on the gorilla population hence to their decrease. MacDonald said that due to the increasingly wide spread firearms in rural Africa, the fear with which many locals regarded gorillas, often led to impulsive shootings (MacDonald 1985). According to MacDonald 1985, most of the hunting that is done is out of sheer fright.
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