Climate change, Global warming, biodiversity degradation, CO2 emissions are some huge concerns we are facing today, overwhelming the collective efforts by so many organizations and governments across the world. The struggle to make any huge impact on the status quo has been frustrating. Surprisingly, if one looks back at history, most of these initiatives on conservation have been sparks of individual brilliance with sheer grit and determination. One such name is Diane Fossey, whose contribution to the field of Gorilla conservation and with it, the biodiversity of the Virunga mountains covering Uganda, Congo and Rawanda has been unprecedented. Every nature lover surely remembers the famous article in the National Geographic published in 1978, featuring the gorilla named Koko who could understand and use sign language. I have been longing to see the Gorillas in its wild natural habitat ever since.
Gorilla conservation has since come a long way and we have witnessed steadily rising numbers of the Mountain gorillas from what was a mere 240 in 1981 to what could well be around 1000 today and the status of Gorilla has been downgraded from “Critically Endangered” to “Endangered” in the IUCN Red list of Threatened species. When a particular species makes a dramatic comeback, it is the ecosystem that is rejuvenated and along with it a plethora of species, flora and fauna make a comeback. The role of the community in this revival has been commendable.
Today Gorillas can be found in the network of parks along the Virunga mountains crossing the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC and all these countries offer excellent opportunity to witness these magnificent apes in their wild habitat. What is noteworthy is that when one undertakes such a trek, it is making a big contribution to the conservation efforts of this fragile ecosystem. It is crucial for any conservation program to involve the local community and ensure they benefit from gorilla tourism. Almost 10% of the park fees goes to the local community development programs like Education, health care, drinking water and most importantly employment.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda not only organizes Gorilla treks but also offers the opportunity to trek for the endangered Golden Monkey, along with excellent birding experiences. The national park consists of three peaks called Mount Gahinga at 3,747 mts, Mount Sabiniyo at 3,645 mts and Mount Mohavura at a height of 4,127 mts. The Gorilla trek is organized in batches of 8-9 visitors who get to spend an hour with the group of habituated Gorillas. These animals are constantly on the move, looking for fodder and an advance team of trackers leave early to look out for where the Gorillas have slept overnight by locating their beds which are made from vegetation. The visitors have a strict protocol to follow and once their location is confirmed, they start their trek with armed rangers and naturalists who will brief you along the way about the local species inhabiting the forests.
The trek can take anywhere between 3-6 hours depending on their location. The initial climb (from the reserve’s parking lot to the base camp) is a climb of a narrow uneven zig zag path of stones flanked by stone walls which has been laid out this way to stop the Cape buffaloes from encroaching. The rest of the trek from the base camp will depend on the location of the Gorillas on that particular day. Mgahinga forest has one resident group of habituated gorillas called the Nyakagyezi, which includes nine gorillas, among them four males three of them silverbacks, two adult females, one juvenile and an infant. An hour with these Gorillas gives one an amazing insight into the lives of a species that shares 98% of the human DNA. The rangers constantly communicate with gorillas assuring them of their safety at all times.
The Golden monkey is another endangered primate found in Uganda and is a subspecies of the Blue monkey. There are around 2000-4000 individuals estimated in the wild. Their struggle for survival has been largely overshadowed by that of the Gorillas and the Chimpanzee, but its rather concerning that reportedly they registered a decline of around 41% from around 1463 to 521 (conservative estimate) between 1998 2003 alone. Since then, the habituation program for Golden monkeys was initiated in 2003 for the purpose of research and ecotourism. The Golden monkeys are restricted within the Bamboo zones of the Virunga mountains.
The Mgahinga Golden monkeys trek is an excellent opportunity to peek into the lives of these beautiful primates. The trek to reach the Golden monkeys in our case turned out to be more grueling than the Gorilla trek. The terrain leading to the bamboo forests is difficult and once there, had to cut through vegetation and make our path to reach the group of monkeys.. The Golden monkeys are usually found in groups of 60 -100 led by an alpha male. The same protocols established for Gorillas’ treks apply here as well and one has to maintain a minimum distance, avoid wild gestures and loud noise, wear a face mask at all times.
