Mountain Gorillas in Africa
Mountain Gorillas in Africa: Mountain gorillas are endangered animals with a population of 1004 as per 2008 statistics. Mountain gorillas in Africa can only be found in four national parks in Africa: Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Virunga Mountains, which consist of Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Rwanda’s volcanoes national park and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda):
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in the southern part of Uganda across the steep ridges of the Albertine Rift Valley and lies at coordinates of 1.0337° S, 29.6932° E. It is one of the places where you can find mountain gorillas in Africa. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Forest is very famous across the whole world.
Bwindi, locally known as Rukinga, means “impenetrable.” The park derives its name from an old story about a family migrating from Kisoro who encountered an impenetrable swamp. They asked the swamp spirits for permission to cross, but their beautiful daughter, Nyinamukari, was to be offered as a sacrifice. When rumors spread, the local people referred to the forest as “Mubwindi nwa Nyamukari,” meaning “the dark place of Nyamukari.”
Bwindi National Park harbors 60% of the total population of gorillas in the world, covers 327 sq. km and it is one of the most ancient rainforests in Africa. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park experiences a lot of rain, 2390 mm per year, with cold mornings and nights with temperature ranges of 7°C to 20°C.
It is coldest in June and July and the best time to go for trekking is during the dry season that is may-September, January and February for easy movement through the terrain.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has seven habituated gorillas with 4 regions: the Buhoma region which is the most popular with 3 groups of habituated gorillas; the Ruh the most accessible with 2 habituated gorilla groups; the Rushega region with 5 groups and also elephants; and the Nkuringo region very relaxed and close to Lake Edward and Nyiragongo. Gorilla trekking in these regions is a guarantee to offer an interesting, unforgettable trekking experience.
MGAHINGA GORILLA NATIONAL PARK. (Uganda)
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is the smallest park in Uganda, established in 1991, located in the southwestern corner 540 km from the capital city Kampala and lies in the coordinates 1.3641° S, 29.6383° E.
It’s one of the parks in Uganda where you can find mountain gorillas in Africa. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is situated on the northern slopes of 3 of the 6 volcanoes that make up the Virunga volcanoes: Mount Muhabura, mountain sabyinyo and Mount Gahinga, which make up the southern part of the Albertine Rift Valley.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park lies at an altitude of 2,227 to 4,412 m, experiences approximately 250 mm of rain, and has two rainy seasons: February to May and September to December. The park also harbors more than half of the world’s population of gorillas and features bamboo forests, golden monkeys, Albertine Rift montane forests, and many other interesting attractions..
The best time to go for a hike in mgahinga national park is July
Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda)
Volcano national park is first park to be established in Africa and the most famous park in Rwanda always referred to as a haven of mountain gorillas and golden monkeys. it lies in northwestern Rwanda and borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda are at coordinates 1.4321° S, 29.5666° E. It covers an area of 160 km².
Volcano National Park was first gazetted in 1925 as a small area in Karisimbi, Bisoke, and Mikeno with the intention of conserving gorillas from poachers. In 1929 the border was extended into Rwanda and Belgian Congo from Albert National Park. The park was a base for an American zoologist, DIAN FOSSEY, who arrived in 1967 and established the Karisoke Research Center in Karisimbi and Visoke; she was later murdered in 1985, supposedly by poachers she was always fighting against.
Volcano national park covers 8 mountains of virunga mountains that is karisimbi (the highest 4507m), bisoke(3711m),muhabura(4127m),gahinga(3470m),sabinyo(3611m), nyaragongo(3470m), nyamurangira(3058). with 11 habituated gorilla families, including Susa, Amahoro, Sabyinyo, Ugenda, Hirwa, Umubano, karisimbi and many others. Volcano National Park became a battleground during the Rwanda civil war, which resulted in an attack on the headquarters (Karisoke Research Center) in 1992, which paralyzed its activities and tourism to the area until 1999, when it was deemed safe.
Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Mountain gorillas in Africa can also be found in Virunga National Park, which is one of the oldest protected areas in Africa, established in 1925 primarily for science-oriented nature reserve and wildlife studies.
It stretches from the Semliki River valley to the Rwenzori Mountains and covers two volcano mountains, Mikeno and Karisimbi volcanoes. It also borders Uganda and Rwanda in the east. Virunga National Park was established by the king of Belgium king Albert and it was first called Albert National Park.
Virunga National Park covers 8,090 km and ends its operations at 6 pm daily. It is located in the eastern part of Congo within the coordinates of 0.0502° S and 29.5143° E, with two rainy seasons of March to mid-May and September to November and an average rain of 220 mm in the north and 160 mm in the south. Virunga National Park has temperatures of 23°C-28°C at low altitudes and 16°C-24°C at higher altitudes and at times drops to 14°C.
Virunga National Park has long been known for insecurity. It was declared a heritage site in 1979 by UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its ecological importance. Though it harbors strong ecological aspects, it was declared to be in danger in 1994 by the World Heritage due to wars in Congo and the 1990s war in Rwanda, which produced a lot of refugees who flooded the protected area, and in 1996, it was declared a Ramsar site of international importance.
Regardless of its past insecurity issues, Virunga national park is a peaceful and safe place ideal for gorilla trekking because it harbors over 250 mountain gorillas with 8 habituated gorilla families
