Gorilla Tracking Safari News and Uganda Tours

Rwanda is a country of varied contrasts, with the mountainous north covered by volcanic protrusions and dense jungles hosting the beautiful mountain gorillas, and the rest of the country covered by gentle valleys, countless rivers, lakes and savannah grasslands.
Rwanda experiences unprecedented interest in its primates by wildlife lovers from across the globe. It is home to around one third of the 700 mountain gorillas left in the world and for several decades now, the country has been at the forefront of gorilla conservation. The endangered mountain gorilla still survives in the Virunga Mountains, a mountain chain linking Rwanda to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Gorillas play an essential role in contributing to the positive image of Rwanda and act as ambassadors on the international scene by raising the profile of the country. These gentle giants also contribute greatly to Rwanda’s tourism industry.
The industry is a fundamental engine for the growth of the national economy and is driven by the mountain gorillas which have been, and remain, the main attraction in Rwanda, brining in over 20,000 visitors to the country each year.
Rwanda has enthusiastically received thousands of international visitors and appreciates the revenues generated through gorilla tourism. This has enabled the country to earn $80 million from Tourism in half year, surpassing its $68 million target.
The strong performance was attributed to the increase in tourists visiting the country. In its mid-term evaluation report, the Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) says that a total of 408,482 tourists have been registered so far, which is a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
Looking at a bigger picture Rwanda is now an eligible bird watching destination with research being conducted to boost birdwatching. Consultations to introduce new products such as a boat on Lake Kivu to step up water tourism, and establishing Cave tourism in Musanze, are underway
Rosette Rugamba, the Director General of ORTPN, attributes much of the success in the tourism sector to government’s support. “While we are very proud of these results, we are aware that this has been possible by the support we have got from our government,” she said.
“We must celebrate but remain cognizant of the challenge and need to continuously improve the experience of visiting and being in Rwanda,” she added.
Tourism is a pillar for rapid economic growth within Rwanda and in many other countries like Uganda. Therefore, there is need to combine forces and cooperation in protection and conservation of Natural assets, and communal participation in promoting tourism and its links conservation issues.

For those who want to do a Uganda birding safari, gorilla tours, primate safari and Rwanda safari

While the behavior of mourning was once considered uniquely human, Gorilla Gana showed that the gap between us and the animal world is not as wide as many believe!
Gorillas, like humans, are great apes large, tailless primates that can use their hands to gather food and make nests. In fact, gorillas are very like us, 98% genetically like us to be exact. Gorillas usually have a strong attachment to their own kind. Like other apes with a well-developed social structure, gorillas mourn the death of loved ones. They exhibit both care for the dead and sadness at their passing - even keeping the body close until it begins decomposing.
Gana, the 11 year old gorilla at a zoo in the German city of Muenster appeared shocked, puzzled and bewildered by Claudio’s death. Allwetter Zoo spokeswoman Ilona Zuehlke says the 3-month-old male baby died on Saturday but its 11-year-old mother continues to carry its body around.
“On Wednesday he gave the impression to keepers that he wasn’t feeling too well,” said Mr. Adler. “On Friday he wasn’t eating or drinking properly and seemed to be growing weaker. We were keeping a close eye on him but suddenly, on Saturday morning, he died.
Visitors wept as Gana held the lifeless body of her child up in the air, in shock, unable to accept and seeking to restore his life. Hours passed, during which Gana continually prodded and caressed the dead child, to no effect.
By Monday, the zookeepers were still unable to get to the body of Claudio, so fiercely is Gana guarding him. “We will carry out an autopsy on the body when we can,” said Mr. Adler. “Gana doesn’t know it, but the whole of Germany is mourning with her.”
This should be a lesson to all of us and it’s important to know that Gorillas are complex, highly intelligent apes, besieged by threats on all sides, including poachers, and confined to a dwindling habitat that is in constant danger of being further eroded.
We should realize that gorillas are a symbol of national pride and unless you and me have more of an incentive to protect these beautiful creatures, the future of the gorillas will never be secure.

One way this can be effected is by offering gorilla tours to raise awareness about how precious these gentle giant apes are to both the tourists and the local communities that benefit from the tourism. Here are a few tailor made gorilla tour packages coupled with Uganda safari and Rwanda tours which are the home of mountain gorillas in addition the Democratic Republic of Congo

Mountain gorillas are some of the most endangered animal species in the world. There are only about 750 left in the wild due to great conservation efforts by the International community and the three countries of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, however, all this is being hampered by the presences of rebels in the protected areas where these gorillas are located. The Nkunda’s militia are in the sector where these mountain gorillas are located and are very aggressive to the international conservation organizations in the region like ICCN have declared that they will kill any conservationists that visit the area. This has been going on since september last year which was probably the worst month for the people involved in the conservation of these rare species of gorillas.
In addition these rebel leaders have trained their own so called tour guides whom they use to take unwitting tourists to track these gorillas. These tourists are mainly from Uganda and the rebel tour guides don’t respect the regulations that have been set to ensure that the mountain gorillas do not contract diseases from humans and are not disturbed.
Also the roads leading to Bukima have been heavily mined by the rebels further complicating the situation for the conservationists in the area.

Another factor affecting the conservation of gorillas is the dealing in charcoal by the local communities in the protected areas. The locals are destroying the habitats of the mountains by cutting down trees to make charcoal which is used as fuel for cooking.
To help protect these gorillas we raise awareness by offering; gorilla tracking tours, Uganda gorilla tour and Rwanda gorilla tour to Bwindi national park and Parc Des Volcanoes