Halima Abdallah
29 June 2009
Nairobi — Uganda will unveil yet another family of gorillas for the public to track in Bwindi National Park when it launches the year of the gorilla on July 14.
The launch is part of the activities geared towards promoting the year of the country's most treasured and endangered primate.
The mountain gorilla family, named Nshongi would be the largest comprising 34 members including three silver back gorillas -- known to be domineering male gorillas. Currently, there are three families in Bwindi Park all having been habituated.
Other activities to celebrate the event include a gorilla symposium, gorilla friends -- where people would be asked to adopt a gorilla in the wilderness, gorilla breakfast, fundraising, conservation education, gorilla concert and electronic tourism.
In addition, Uganda Wildlife Authority has a five-year plan aimed at conservation and promotion of the gorillas. Initially, the government left gorilla promotion to tour operators.
Also included in the five-year package is the promotion of the golden monkey and chimpanzees at Mgahinga Impenetrable National Park.
Gorillas are most-concentrated in the region around the border of Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo.
However it is only the Rwandan government that has put in commendable efforts in promoting the primates with global events like gorilla-naming ceremonies.
Gorillas contribute significantly to the national economy through tracking-permits. Communities around Bwindi are getting income through handcrafts which they sell to tourists. Some have invested in accommodation facilities while others have drama groups that are hired to entertain the tourists.
"Gorillas generate the biggest share of tourism income. For example, it finances 54 per cent of UWA's operations," said Lillian Nsubuga, UWA's public relations officer.
Coming of Nshongi family is expected to increase the number of permits from the current 32 to 40 since each family is only allowed eight permits per day for health reasons.
This means more income from gorilla tracking in addition to the current $225 million per year.
This year, UN Convention on Migratory Species, Great Ape Survival Partnership and the World Association of Zoos and Aquarium declared 2009 the year of the gorilla after similar schemes for dolphins and turtles in the previous years.
In the course of the year, actions will be taken to better their habitat and to bring peace in the areas where gorillas live.
In East and Central Africa, gorillas are threatened with extinction due to frequent human-wildlife conflicts.
For instance, human beings contest the land reserved for the gorillas that would be suitable for agriculture. Worse still, gorillas feed on the same food crops that humans grow at the parks' periphery thereby escalating the conflict.
There are 380 gorillas in Ugan-da's Bwindi National Park, while the number of those in the Mgahinga Impenetrable National Park is unknown.
The gorillas in the park keep crossing into Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
For instance, in 2005 Uganda lost a whole family of about 13 members when they crossed to Rwanda after habituating them. Since then, UWA has not made efforts to make gorillas in the Mgahinga open to tourists.
The UN warns that gorillas will become extinct in the next few decades if no action is taken. For instance,
In the last decade, the number of lowland gorillas in the DRC for example, dropped from 17,000 to 5,000 gorillas, according to United Nations Environmental Programme.
The primates were caught in the line of fire during the armed conflicts, while many more were eaten as bush meat, a practice which is fast increasing to their extinction.
In some places, people want the infant gorillas as pets.
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A very big part of saving declining gorilla populations is helping their human neighbors prosper as well. I'm glad to see that researchers who work with gorillas (like in this documentary: http://www.explore.org/explore/africa/films/176 ) understand that local populations living near gorilla habitats can have reciprocal relationships with gorillas. Like you state in the article, gorillas can bring tourism, while local inhabitants can contribute to the protection of gorilla families. We are so similar in so many ways, why not help each other?