The mountain gorillas are the largest living primates in the World and are the largest of the gorilla family. They are highly endangered number only about 820 in the wild. They can only be found in a small geographical region surrounding the mountainous border region of the central African Countries of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Half of the population of these mountain gorillas live in Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park in Uganda and the other half live in the Virunga volcanoes ranges of Rwanda and Democratic of Congo which is some 75km to the south.
Mountain gorillas are social creature living in families dominated by a silverback – an alpha male that is full grown and unlike the cousins the lowland gorillas, mountain gorillas have long hair covering their bodies . The long hair help protect them from the extreme weather conditions found in the high altitudes in which the mountain gorillas live. A silverback gorilla derives its name from the strip of grey hair on its back when it reaches adulthood while a young juvenile male is called a blackback.
A male silverback plays the very important role of protecting the family from external threats such as poachers and predators as well as lone silverbacks intent on taking on females to create their own families. It is also the mediator in the family when fights breakout among the members. It is not uncommon to find other silverbacks with the same family; however it is only the dominant one that can mate with the females in the family. The adult females are just about half the size of the dominant male and it is they who starting showing the male any interest when they want to mate as well as taking care of their young.
Although there have been several stories about the ferocity of mountain gorillas, they are such gentle giants and spend most of their day grooming and foraging the jungle for food. The young mountain gorillas can be found engaging in mock fights and apart from this aggression within the family is very rare. The only time one might expect to see mountain gorillas fighting is when the silverback is being challenged for dominance or when there is a real threat to his family from another silverback or predator.
However the mountain gorilla’s real fierceness is seen when one tries to capture their young. For one to take mountain gorillas’ young they will have to face the full force of the whole family. For every baby gorilla that you find being sold in the black market, its entire family would have to have been wiped out.
The greatest threat to the mountain gorillas is the destruction of their habitat, human communicable diseases, poaching as well as civil war like that in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in which the mountain gorillas are found.
The mountain gorilla is the emblem species of the Virunga national park which is a world heritage site, however the raging war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since 1994 has almost decimated the number of mountain gorillas the Virungas. There is such a shortage of food and fuel in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that the people who have fled from the conflict have little choice but to encroach on the already fragile habitat and in addition the infrastructure is so poor.
The greatest threat to mountain gorillas is the disease. There’s ever increasing encroachment by people into the gorilla habitat puts these gentle giants more and more in danger of catching diseases. Organizing gorilla tour packages is probably the best way to protect mountain gorillas. The problem is that mountain gorilla trekking and tourism also exposes the gorillas to their greatest threat – diseases. Mountain gorillas are susceptible to human diseases because they have 97% of human DNA. The only advantage to humans over the mountain gorillas is that they can overcome small illnesses with a few antibiotics and a little rest. However if a disease like Marburg fever or Ebola broke out among the mountain gorillas they would be almost completely wiped out or brought to a point where it would be hard to restore their numbers.
In all the three Countries where the mountain gorillas are found, the different bodies responsible for wildlife protection have established strict regulations regarding mountain gorilla safari. One of these includes keeping a distance of about 10 meters or 27 feet from the mountain gorillas. They are also meant to ensure that any human waste is buried in a hole some several inches deep and that the persons involved in the tracking of gorillas are healthy. It is also important that the mountain gorillas have a larger area in which to live so that the families live in discrete areas and that their pathes do not cross easily as they migrate. This will ensure that transmission of diseases is minimized in the event that there is an outbreak.
The first step in ensuring the preservation of mountain gorillas is understanding their nature as well as the threats these gentle giants face.
For your gorilla safari and gorilla trekking visit www.gorilla-safari.org
