Mountain gorilla is a critically endangered species listed on the IUCN red list found in Uganda, Rwanda, and the democratic republic of Congo, mountain gorilla’s gorilla belingei are herbivorous primates feeding on plants like mimlopsis, mushrooms and sometimes termites, they live in groups of up to 20 individuals in a family, the male silver backs lead the team, having a playful nature especially the young ones, they are majestic brown eyed creatures and don’t live in captivity, Uganda’s population of the primate species is half of the world’s remaining survivals. Many people wonder where the mountain gorilla can be found in Uganda, they are flowers in the following national parks
Bwindi impenetrable national park , located in the western part Uganda, the park was gazette in the 1993 and by the 1994 it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site as a way of protecting the critically endangered species of mountain gorillas, it is home to half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas an 8 hours’ drive from Entebbe international airport passing through beautiful hills, banana and tea plantations, the park has four sectors the Nkuringo, Buhoma, Rushaga, and Ruhija sector each of which has groups of habituated gorilla families trained to contain human presence, the park is one of the oldest ancient virgin forest in the country, it is the only park where the three great apes co-exist together in harmony not until man was evicted from the forest due to conservation purposes.
Mgahinga national park is a perfect gorilla destination home to the Nyakagezi gorilla family where gold meets silver, it’s a Ugandan continuation of the eight series of the great Virunga mountains, smallest of the national parks, three peaks of Mgahinga, Sabinyo, and Muhabura are in the national park habitats to the primate, the slopes of the Mgahinga are covered by a series of vegetative covers lowest parts covered in grass and bush, to the undisturbed bamboo zone, montane forest, and the ericaceous zone containing the giant tree heathers , it keeps the rare golden monkeys and about 39 species of mammals although they are rarely seen. It is supplemented by the Rwandan volcanoes national park and democratic republic of Congo indicating that the gorillas in this particular park are migratory as they move freely from one ecosystem to another.
Tracking mountain gorillas starts in the morning hours, depending on how far the gorilla families have moved, it takes from 2-3 hours in the jungle, it’s done in groups of eight per gorilla group it is advisable to buy gorilla permits in advance to avoid inconveniences, the Ugandan permit goes for 700 USD. One can choose to have an interconnected trip to see more wild life in the other national parks, the parks are the coldest places of the country hence one should come along with boots, hats, long sleeved warm clothes, hand gloves, water proof covers for phones and cameras. The parks can be visited all year round but best during the dry seasons in the months of December-February, and June- mid-September.
Please book with Lionking safaris Uganda.