Mountain Gorillas in Uganda Thrive Despite Perils
9/20/98
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Title: Mountain Gorillas in Uganda Thrive Despite Perils
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 9/20/98
Byline: Simon Denyer
BWINDI IMPENETRABLE FOREST, Uganda, Sept 21(Reuters) - Deep in the heart
of Uganda's only rainforest reserve, a large male silverback gorilla peers
disdainfully through the thick bush.
The object of his gaze -- a small group of Western tourists who have
trekked for four hours through the forest for this glimpse of one of the
world's last surviving mountain gorillas.
For a while gorilla and tourist study each other. Then, his curiosity
satisfied, the silverback stretches out to resume his afternoon snooze,
with one careful eye on the intruders.
Only around 620 mountain gorillas survive, making them one of the world's
most endangered species. They are split into two roughly equal groups, one
in the relative safety of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwest
Uganda.
The other has a more precarious existence around the Virunga volcanoes, in
a series of three linked national parks straddling the corners of Uganda,
Rwanda and the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Instability in Rwanda and the Congo poses a major threat to that
population.
``The population is very threatened right now,'' said Annette Lanjouw,
regional coordinator for the International Gorilla Conservation Programme
(IGCP), which provides technical assistance to the three governments.
``There are problems with rebels, namely the (Rwandan Hutu) Interahamwe,
who are using the park to move across in the Rwandan region,'' she said.
``In May last year, at least 10 animals were killed because they were
caught in the crossfire between the military and the rebels.''
HUMAN DISEASES THREATEN GORILLAS
But rebels are not the only threat to the mountain gorilla, whose contact
with humans has long been an unhappy one.
Gorillas, like chimpanzees, share about 98 percent of their genetic
material, or DNA, with humans. That makes them very susceptible to a whole
range of human diseases - but without human immune systems, even a simple
cold or flu could threaten a gorilla group.
Tourists are kept to at least five metres (yards) from the gorillas they
encounter, and are barred from tracking if they have a cold Even so, some
conservationists argue that tourism is a major threat to the species.
``There are a lot of people who don't believe in gorilla tourism,'' said
Lanjouw. ``We argue that if you don't have tourists, you wouldn't be able
to protect them at all.''
A maximum of six tourists are allowed to visit a ``habituated'' gorilla
group every day, and stay for just one hour. Each foreign visitor pays
$180 for the experience, on top of the $20 park entrance fee.
The income generated finances the gorilla parks and also subsidises other,
less-visited parks in the three countries. Before civil war broke out in
Rwanda in the early 1990s, gorilla tourism was the country's third-highest
foreign exchange earner, behind tea and coffee.
GORILLAS HABITUATED TO HUMAN CONTACT
American researcher Dian Fossey brought mountain gorillas international
fame, with her efforts to protect them from poachers the subject of the
Hollywood film ``Gorillas in the Mist.''
Fossey spent 13 years in Rwanda studying the gorillas and habituating them
to humans before her murder in 1985. Today, her legacy has been
taken up by the IGCP.
It takes around 18 months to habituate gorilla groups to human contact.
Initially, trackers see little more than a disturbance in the thick bush
before the primates move off.
Gradually, by imitating the grunting of a satisfied gorilla, they narrow
the distance the animals are comfortable with -- but not without the
occasional run-in.
``When they charge, you remain submissive, you don't move a step, you keep
your eyes looking down as much as possible,'' said Sampson Werikhe, IGCP's
deputy programme director in Uganda.
``They come as close as five metres (yards). They are really threatening,
pulling down branches and hitting their chests... but when they find you
are not responding, they just walk away,'' he said.
Just two groups are currently ``receiving visitors'' in Bwindi. The second
was only opened to tourists a few months ago, with a maximum of just four
visitors a day for the time being.
A third habituated group crossed into the Congo earlier this year, moving
into a small and unprotected forest near the border. They are now back in
the park, but having split into smaller groups, are no longer considered
good targets for tourism.
Habituation poses its own problems. Gorillas who have lost their fear of
humans can be a menace to the villagers surrounding the reserves.
``Since they have become habituated, gorillas sometimes leave the park and
go into people's fields,'' said Lanjouw.
``They rip the banana trees down and eat the pith inside the stem. A
family can totally destroy a whole banana plantation in just one
afternoon.''
``BABY BOOM'' IN THE VIRUNGAS
Despite all the problems, and the lack of a census in the Virungas since
1989, conservationists say the population is stable.
Experts even talk of a ``baby boom'' in the past 18 months, with at least
10 births recorded in the five habituated groups who live in the Congo.
Lanjouw says that is a normal birthrate, but is nevertheless encouraging
in groups traumatised by recent events in the region.
In mid-1995, a silverback male, called Luwawa, was killed in the Congo.
His replacement as head of the group, Kabirizi, has been busy -- his
females have born him five young since March this year.
Bwindi is the only safe and reliable place in the world to see mountain
gorillas in the wild, and waiting lists often stretch for up to a year.
Visitors to Mgahinga National Park, the Ugandan portion of the Virunga
range, have to take their chances. With gorillas not respecting
international boundaries, their presence in that tiny corner of Uganda
cannot be guaranteed.
Nor is it wise to cross into Rwanda or the Congo to follow them. A group
of six tourists was attacked by Hutu rebels just inside Congo last month.
So far, three of those tourists remain in rebel captivity -- a stark
reminder of the unstable environment in which mountain gorillas have found
their only remaining home.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.