Mountain gorillas in their natural habitats

The endangered mountain gorillas are the endemic of Virunga Mountain range that covers Uganda Rwanda and Tanzania with each of those country having one national park belonging to this massif range. Virunga national park is found in DR Congo and the park is home to these great apes of the central African country.

Volcanoes national park in Rwanda is another popular place where mountain gorillas are found. Rwanda charges 1500 dollars to encounter the mountain gorillas in their natural habitats for one good hour. The country is blessed with over 20 gorilla family that are open for tourist or year-round.

Another place where you can walk with mountain gorilla within Virunga massif range is Mgahinga gorillas national park found on the Ugandan side of the massif. The park is blessed with only one habituated gorilla mountain gorilla family. However, the price for gorilla trekking in Uganda is only 800 dollars.

Where else to see gorillas

There is only one other place in the world that is not found in Virunga Mountain where you can meet mountain gorillas in their natural habitats and that is Bwindi impenetrable national park in Uganda with over a half of the mountain gorillas. Therefore, if you fail to secure a permit at Mgahinga, then Bwindi is another cheap place to see gorillas at 800 dollars.

Other than gorilla trekking, Bwindi national park is only place where you can do gorilla habituation with two gorilla family available for the exercise at Rushaga sector which will give you four hours with these great apes.

The daily life of gorillas in their natural habitat

Mountain gorillas are territorial animals. They live in a family of 5 to 30 member which is usually led by the dominant silver with other silverbacks, blackbacks, adult female, juvenile and the infants. Here is how gorillas go about their life

The family composition in their natural habitats

The gorilla family is composed of different members from the infants to the silverbacks. Let us have a look at each member in the gorilla family group below

Silverbacks

All mature male gorillas become silverbacks and many silver backs can stay in the same family. Male gorillas acquire the name of silverbacks when they reach the maturity age of thirteen to fifteen and start to develop the silver fur at their backs. The dominant, most powerful silverback lead the gorilla family and provide the protection to all other family member. On top of that, it instructs the family on what next step to be taken.

Furthermore, the dominant silverback is responsible for the mating of all the female members within the family. Sometimes power struggle can occur within the family when another silverback wants to assume the control of the family. In rare cases, this struggle can result into loss of life of the weaker silverback. However, in most cases, the loser during the power struggle will leave the family and start living a lonely life until when he is able to create his own family.

It is not unheard of for a female gorilla to lead the gorilla family, but this is very, very rare and an example of a dominant female in a gorilla family is Effie matriline who was a leader of the biggest gorilla family that has ever been recorded. Some of her female grandchildren have been traced with some leadership skills in the groups where they are found.

Blackbacks

The young adult male gorillas are called blackbacks. These male gorillas are identified by the black fur instead of the silver fur that defines the silverbacks. They range between 8 to 12 years of age. At this stage, the gorillas are still growing their physical structure. Male gorillas tend to reach their full maturity at the age of 15 years in mountain gorillas and 18years in lowland gorillas. the blackbacks are neither silverbacks nor juvenile.

Adult female gorillas

A female gorilla matures and become ready for reproduction at around 10 years of age. At this stage the female gorilla is likely to change a group and find a new group. The factors female usually considers in choosing which gorilla to join are always determined mostly by the size and the strength of the dominant silver back. The biggest and most powerful silverbacks tend to have many females as they are assumed to be able to protect them.

Even though the dominant silverbacks are responsible for the day-to-day management of the group, female gorillas are very important for the existence of mountain gorillas. For instance, a female gorilla can not give birth to another infant as long as it is still nursing the young one and this process last for three to four years. Therefore, for mountain gorillas to survive female gorillas play a great role

Further on female gorillas, some female gorillas can be more dominant in the family than others and those dominant one will  prioritized in determining who feed from the virgin field. The dominance of female mountain gorilla is usually determined by the number of offspring she has and her relationship with the dominant silverback.

Juvenile

These are gorillas between 4 to 8 years which have grown enough to make their own nests but still young and not yet sexually ready. At age eight, the females are sexually mature enough however they are not yet ready to become mothers until when they are at least 12 years of age. For the male gorilla, there sexual development is relatively slow, and they are not ready until when they are at least 12 years. Juvenile gorillas are living independent of their mothers. they are the most playful and a joy to watch during your gorilla trekking

Infant gorillas

These are the newborn members of the family between 1 day to three years. At this stage they cannot do anything on their own. They are fully dependent to their mother, and they are in the learning process from their mothers and other members of the family. The development of infant gorilla is a slow process, they will start standing at week 20 which is approximately 5 months. For an infant gorilla to start walking, it will take it 34 week which is an equivalent of 8.5 months. Now you can see how challenging it is to raise an infant gorilla

Like human. Infant gorillas are very vulnerable to diseases and external attack compare to other gorillas and this explain the low gorilla population as it hard for an infant to survive within the jungle.

That is the gorilla family composition. Let us look at gorilla social life in the wild

Gorillas’ social life in their natural habitats

As we have already seen, gorillas live with a close family like human with a strong bond. The family is led by the dominant silver, but females play a huge role in the family creation as it is not a family without the female counterparts

The sex life of gorillas

Gorillas live a polygamous life where the dominant silverback is entirely responsible to mate or the females within the gorilla family. Any other silverback that does attempt to mate the female in that family is fought and forced to leave the group. In many cases a loser might go with some female to start his own family, or he might go alone and start wars with different families with the intent of finding female gorillas to join him

sex in gorilla life is usually for reproduction purpose but gorillas also do sex for enjoyment and pressure. Sex can either be initiated by the female gorilla or the male gorilla

Diet of mountain gorillas

Mountain gorillas are generally herbivores and mostly feed on bamboo shootings, fruits and other vegetables within the wild. Beside vegetables, gorillas can sometime feed on the insects and smaller primates within the forests. Gorillas are estimated to be eating close to 25 kilograms everyday and this explain their big size.

Nests building of mountain gorilla in their natural habitat

Gorillas never stay in the same nest for more than one time. They usually construct a new nest on every closer of the day. The number and size of the nest can be used to determine the number of gorillas within the family and the size of each mountain gorilla.

Through nest identification you can identify the different members that makes up the family as the nest size is always determined by the gorilla member of the family. For instance, a silverback usually constructs the biggest nest and juvenile have the smallest nest. The nests are made from trees and the forest vegetation

At what altitude do mountain gorilla live

As their name suggests, mountain gorillas usually live on a higher altitude of between 8,000 to 13,000 feet and this explains why they are concentrated in the Virunga mountains and in the higher altitude of Albertine rift valley. the temperature at this height can sometimes go to the freezing degrees and this explain why you need to be physical and mentally ready for the challenging gorilla trekking safari. There is other counterpart of mountain gorilla, the lowland gorillas which live on the lower altitude of Kahuzi-Biega national park in DR Congo

The challenges faced by mountain gorillas in their natural habitats

These giant great apes have got very few predators in their natural habitats, but they are being affected by the human activities which has put their existence into a huge threat. Some of these threats include hunting, habitat destruction, human conflicts and many more activities. There is a lot of threats facing mountain gorilla for their ongoing existence in their natural habitats as we are going to see.

mountain gorilla natural habitat loss

With ever increasing human population in Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo where mountain gorillas are found with an in elastic land as a resource. Humans have resorted into settling to the land that was formally gazette as forest. This has led to the habitat loss for the mountain gorillas which has made their survival very difficult.

However, efforts have been made by all the stake holders including the governments, authorities and international bodies like UNESCO to ensure that these gentle giants are conserved for the future generation. Some of the effort that are put in place include declaring Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda which is the home to 50% of total gorilla population and Virunga national park of DR Congo as a UNESCO World heritage site.

The Rwanda government has established the Diana Fossil fund in remembrance of a person who did so much for gorilla conservation and bring forward her great work. Even functions like kwita-izina are being organized every year in the country since 2015 with the purpose of creating the awareness all over the world

Hunting of mountain gorillas

Gorillas are rarely hunted for meat, and they got very few predators. However, within their same natural habitats, you will find other animals that humans feed on. Therefore, humans tend to set traps within these forests and these traps sometimes can trap the gorillas even though they are not the target. These traps can endanger the affected gorillas and sometimes result into death of these gorillas.

Human conflicts within their natural habitat

Especially in democratic republic of Congo at Virunga national park where there is political unrest. Even though gorillas are not the target, but they can still be killed by the stray bullet during the confrontation from the different fighting parties

Human encroachment at gorillas natural habitat

With mountain gorillas sharing over 98 percent of their DNA with that of human. The scarcity of resources like water and firewood have led to the people within the nearby surrounding to frequently visit the forests that inhabit the gorillas. These gorillas are vulnerable to human diseases and with no treatment, they are like to die once they suffer from this disease.

When to go for gorilla trekking on an African safari

Gorilla trekking in Uganda and Rwanda is a year-round activity and the decision of when to visit will entirely depend on you. The peak season for an African safari is usually during the dry season between June to September and December to February. However, this time is associated with high demand and high price for accommodation. Furthermore, during this time the gorilla permit are sold at maximum price of 1500.

Even the demand for the permit during the peak season is always very high so you will have to do your booking very early if your plan is to travel during this time to avoid any disappoint

For the budget travellers, I would encourage you to plan your gorilla African safari in the low season. However, this season collide with the wet season (even though the Uganda-Rwanda weather is an equatorial weather with moderate rainfall) of march to May and October to early December. The gorilla permits at Rwanda side are usually offered on a discounted rate upon fulfilment of stated conditions and accommodation tend to be very cheap during this time.

What more to do on African vacation safari in Uganda and Rwanda

Golden monkey trekking

All the three parks found in Virunga massif range are home to another endangered golden monkeys. Unlike mountain gorillas that live at higher altitude, golden monkeys leave in low altitude forests of the park and are unique creatures that you must encounter during your visit

Mountain hiking

Virunga massif is the hilly place with 8 volcanic mountains found within the range. Six of these mountains are dormant volcanoes while of the volcanoes are active volcanoes. Both active volcanoes are found at the Congo side of the range. There is other places where you can do hiking in Uganda and Rwanda like Rwenzori mountains found in Albertine rift valley region at the side of Uganda.

Chimpanzee trekking

The popular places where to meet these great apes on your Uganda and Rwanda safari are Kibaale national park and Nyungwe national park. The permit price for chimps trekking is 250 dollars for both parks. For those interested in spending more time with chimps in their natural habitats can choose to do chimpanzee habituation

Wildlife viewing

You can visit different national parks for wildlife viewing. The popular places for wildlife viewing include Akagera national park of Rwanda and queen Elizabeth national park of Uganda. The game drive will lead you to encounter different animal and birds including the big five of lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo and black and white rhinos. You will also be able to encounter birds like the rare shoebill stork the ostrich which are endemic of these two countries

Other activities that you can do

There is very many other activities you can perform during your visit and these include but not limited to mongoose trekking and queen Elizabeth, boat cruise at  kazinga channels and lake kivu, white water rafting at Nile and many more other activities.

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