Uganda's Gorilla tourism to increase
Oct 07, 2007
THE scramble for gorilla tourism is set to increase as the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is planning to habituate two more groups of gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
By Gerald Tenywa
THE scramble for gorilla tourism is set to increase as the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is planning to habituate two more groups of gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Habituation is the process in which gorillas get used to human presence without losing their wild character.
According to Sam Mwandha, the director of field operations at UWA, the habituation of the groups will bring the total number of habituated groups to six.
“This will help us earn more revenue and promote the conservation of the gorillas.’’
One of the groups living at Ruhija was partially habituated, while the second group located at Rushaga within Bwindi is being monitored.
“We want to collect information about this group and establish where the gorillas sleep and their movements before we habituate them,’’ said Mwandha.
Uganda has 340 gorillas in Bwindi and this is thought to be half of the gorilla population in the world.
Gorilla tourism in Uganda started in the early 1990s and currently contributes up to 70% of UWA’s revenue.
THE scramble for gorilla tourism is set to increase as the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is planning to habituate two more groups of gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Habituation is the process in which gorillas get used to human presence without losing their wild character.
According to Sam Mwandha, the director of field operations at UWA, the habituation of the groups will bring the total number of habituated groups to six.
“This will help us earn more revenue and promote the conservation of the gorillas.’’
One of the groups living at Ruhija was partially habituated, while the second group located at Rushaga within Bwindi is being monitored.
“We want to collect information about this group and establish where the gorillas sleep and their movements before we habituate them,’’ said Mwandha.
Uganda has 340 gorillas in Bwindi and this is thought to be half of the gorilla population in the world.
Gorilla tourism in Uganda started in the early 1990s and currently contributes up to 70% of UWA’s revenue.