Mountain Gorillas

Mountain Gorillas

Mountain gorillas are one of the most sought for wildlife animals and apes in the world, generally gorillas are believed to have evolved from monkeys and other apes originating from Arabia and Africa about 9 million years ago.

After a period of about 2 million years ago, various species of gorillas were distinguished and these include eastern gorillas from Western gorillas in the west and central Africa, the eastern gorillas were further split into 2 that is mountain gorillas and eastern lowland mountain gorillas about 400,000 years ago.

The name “Gorilla” was adopted in 1852, the genus were first called Troglodyetes and in 1967,colin Groves came up with the idea of naming different name to the different species of gorillas and this is how the names, western lowland gorilla, Eastern lowland gorilla and the mountain gorilla came into existence.

Where are Mountain Gorillas found?

In the whole world, mountain gorillas are found in only three countries that are Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda hosts about half of the overall population of mountain gorillas in the world in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga Gorilla national park.

Mountain gorillas are found in 2 populations with the largest population hosted in Bwindi impenetrable national park and the second population found in the Virunga Conservation Area comprising of Mgahinga Gorilla national park of Uganda, Volcanoes national park of Rwanda and Virunga national park of The Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the 2018 census, there is about 1,004 mountain gorillas roaming on the planet, because of the least population of mountain gorillas when compared to other species of gorillas, they are listed as  endangered by the IUCN. Other species of gorillas are lowland gorillas (eastern and western) found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and other countries of west and central Africa. There is an overall population of over 250,000 western lowland gorillas and less than 8,000 lowland gorillas

These areas are situated in the altitude range of 7,200–14,100 feet, have the right and ecology which allows the mountain gorillas to thrive. The high altitudes.

Physical Characteristics of Mountain Gorillas

Mountain gorillas are characterized by a thicker fur compared to the other types of gorillas found in Africa, this thicker fur allows them to thrive in cold higher altitudes. An adult male mountain gorillas is referred to as a silverback because of the silver hair behind their back, a silverback weighs about 195 kilograms and an adult female gorilla weighs about 100 kilograms.

Silverbacks are taller and 4 times stronger than the largest human, mountain gorillas weigh less and are smaller than the eastern lowland gorillas. The ever recorded largest lowland gorillas weighed 267 kilograms and it was shot in Cameroon.

Mountain gorillas can be identified by their unique nose prints of each individual, mountain gorillas have dark brown eyes and their hands are longer than the legs. Mountain gorillas can stand and move upright but the prefer knuckle – walking where they use their fingers to support their weight.

Mountain gorillas are normally active during the day from 06:00 am to 06:00 pm, they spend most of the day feeding on insects, shoots/stems, leaves, roots, flowers and fruits, there most active eating time is the morning then rest around mid-day before eating again in the afternoon as the night approaches. The gorillas rest at mid – day and use this time for bonding through rooming each other, removing parasites and dirt from each other, in this time juveniles can be seen playing, chasing, somersaulting and wrestling. Adult gorillas participate in some games through grudgingly,

At the times, mountain gorillas belonging to the same gorilla group use barks and grants as a way of communication and locating each other within the thick vegetation. As the night approaches, each adult individual builds a nest from tree leaves and other vegetation, infants share the same nests with their mothers.

For the most of their time, the gorillas are on ground and sometimes they build their nests on the ground, adult gorillas only climb trees in search for fruits and only when a tree can hold their weight. Frequent climbing of the trees is left only to the juveniles. Some of the climbs result into accidents and even death of adult mountain gorillas as they fall off a loose tree branch.

Mountain gorillas are afraid of certain insects and reptiles found in the vegetation cover and trees, they also avoid chameleons and caterpillars as much as possible. Mountain gorillas are have a dislike to water and rain and they cross streams if they can use fallen trees or logs.

The difference between mountain gorillas and other primates is that there are relatively stable groups, mountain gorillas are highly social and leave in a cohesive group lead by a dominant silver back “male”. Female mountain gorillas have a weaker bond to the group and they normally will often leave to join other gorilla groups once they reach maturity, females normally leave at maturity to join other prominent gorilla groups or start a new life with a lone male. Some female gorillas normally change to new groups several times before sticking to one silver and most of the females in a group will remain loyal to the dominant silverback for life.

Mating in the mountain gorillas is initiated by a fertile females.

Most of the mountain gorilla groups have one silverback who is the leader of the group and is responsible for defending his group against intruders, a few groups contain only males led by an older adult but there are also lone males. In each gorilla group with females, the dominant male silverback is the undisputed leader and center of attention while the rest of the males are subordinates. Everyone in the group tries to be in the good books of the silverback (the leader) by behaving well and involving him in their games that is if he shows interest, the silverback has a sole responsibility and power to dictate the movement of the group and chooses the best feeding grounds for the group, he is also responsible for resolving conflicts between members and will defend the group / family against other gorillas or any wild animal or humans even to death.

When a female gorilla dies or leaves the group, the silverback remains with the responsibility of taking care of her young, when the silverback dies. His death can cause disruption in a once peaceful group, in case there is no acceptable leader to succeed the silverback, the group will split or get a leader from outside the group. If they choose a silverback from another group, there is a risk that he may decide to kill all in the infants of the deceased male.

 Though they are strong and powerful, mountain gorillas are generally gentle and shy. Mountain gorillas only resort to aggression when attacked or if they encounter another group of gorillas, in such cases they will first begin by threatening or intimidating an intruder. When a silverback chooses to fight, it can turn violent even to the point of death and during fight, they use their sharp teeth to cause deep wounds and injuries to the rival.

Discovery of mountain gorillas

The first person to identify mountain gorillas was Captain Robert Von Beringe and this was during his expedition to establish the boundaries of then German colonies in East Africa, after shooting 2 large apes, one was captured and sent to a museum in Germany. It was at this point that a new gorilla species was discovered and named Gorilla Beringei after Captain Robert,

Dian Fossey and her research on Mountain gorillas

After the discovery mountain gorillas by Captain Robert and several researchers and studies done on mountain gorillas by George Schallers in 1959 and Dian Fossey in 1967, Dian Fossey took interest in studying this new species and she took the research to an unprecedented level and she is credited for discovering new ways of habituating mountain gorillas such as mimicking their sounds and gaining the trust of the dominant male silverback.

Dian Fossey organized the first gorilla census and changed her view from gocusing solely on research to gorilla conservation hence bringing to the attention of the world the plight of the gorillas.

Dian Fossey divided gorilla conservation into 3 areas that are active, theoretical and community- based

• Under the active conservation, she suggested the need to proactively enforce laws that were against poaching including destroying poacher equipment and carrying out animal censuses.
• Theoretical conservation which would require improving the infrastructure around gorilla habitats including renovating park offices, lodges and habituating gorilla families to encourage tourism.
• Community based approach – the final approach to gorilla conservation, in this approach the communities are involved and their interests are taken into consideration.

Dian Fossey actively fought against poachers and she did this by sabotaging their operations and starting part patrols, her brutal death is believed to have been as a result of her hard line against poachers. Up to today, her work continues to this day through what is known as the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.

Current threats and Conservation

Although the numbers of mountain gorillas are increasing on a daily with over 1,000 mountain gorillas in the world, they are still threatened and considered an endangered species, the greatest threat to mountain gorillas still comes from humans. In the democratic Republic of Congo, mountain gorillas still fall victim to poaching and several gorillas have been killed or maimed by snares thus leaving behind traumatized orphans. Insecurity, civil unrest and wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo have had an impact on the overall population of mountain gorillas in Volcanoes national park which is the oldest national park in Africa.

Mountain gorilla numbers are continuously increasing generally because of the gorilla tourism, another reason are the stringent measures put in place by the governments to protect the primates and efforts of researchers with funding from generous donors.

Mountain gorillas receive treatment from veterinary doctors in case of any life threatening conditions or wound from snares, in DR.Congo the Senkwekwe gorilla orphanage was built to rehabilitate young mountain gorillas whose parents died because of poaching. Management of Virunga national park has increased armed patrols so as to flush out any poachers or armed militias, also there has been controversial decisions such as the eviction of the Batwa pygmies from the forests in Uganda and Rwanda. These decisions have helped stabilize mountain gorilla populations and the governments still do more to involve local communities in park activities where they can benefit from tourism.

The story of gorilla conservation has fortunately become a success, the intriguing nature and endangered status has made it easy to attract funding from wildlife conservation organizations. The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) is the main international organization working to protect mountain gorillas. This programme was founded in 1991 and is a combined effort of the World Wide Fund for Nature, Fauna and Flora international and African Wildlife Foundation. These organizations have been very generous and have made resources available for the protection of the endangered mountain gorillas.

Mountain Gorilla Trekking

Encountering mountain gorillas is an ultimate wildlife experience and no wildlife experience in the world can beat watching mountain gorillas in their natural habitat, gorillas are the closest relative to humans and in the world there is about 1000 mountain gorillas surviving in the wild. Half mountain gorilla population is found in Uganda and the other half is found in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, because of the small population of the remaining gorillas, they are considered endangered species by several organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Among the gorillas, there are wild and habituated gorillas. The habituated mountain gorillas make up 20% of the total gorilla population, it is these gorillas which are encountered on gorilla trekking safari. The habituation process is a 2 year process for allowing gorillas time to get used to the presence of humans in their mindset.

 Regardless of the country, you choose to do gorilla trekking is always a worthy safari experience to do, though each country offers difference gorilla trekking experience.

Gorilla trekking experience normally start early as 07:00 am with briefing at the parks headquarters where you are taken through the rules and regulations to follow during the trek and while in the presence of mountain gorillas. Trekkers are then assigned one of the habituated gorilla family and in groups of 8 people, you will trek into the jungle looking for mountain gorillas. The trek normally takes about 2-8 hours and involves passing through dense forests, steep hills and mud-filled pathways. When going for this experience, you should be prepared physically and psychologically for the adventure as there is more to expect.

Chances of seeing mountain gorillas are over 90% and gorilla trekking offers one hour of being the presence of mountain gorillas while taking pictures and witnessing their behaviors which are strikingly similar to that of human beings.