Mountain Gorillas in Mgahinga<\/h2>\n
Mountain gorillas form the main attraction at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, which protects the Ugandan portion of the Virungas, an imposing string of nine freestanding extinct and active volcanoes that runs along the border with Rwanda and the Congo. These Gorilla groups frequently \u2018pop in\u2019 and take temporary residence for a couple of months at a stretch.<\/p>\n
There are two species of gorillas in this world that is eastern and western gorillas and the species are divided into subspecies. The eastern gorillas have the mountain gorillas and eastern lowland gorillas and the western gorillas have the western lowland gorillas and the cross river gorillas. These gorillas are classified due to the locality they live in.<\/p>\n
These kinds of gorillas are called mountain gorillas due to the fact that they live in cool tropical forest ranges\/mountains of the eastern region of Africa. That is at Virunga massif at the border of Uganda, Rwanda and DR. Congo and kigezi highland region of Uganda. The mountain gorillas are very huge and have too much fur on their bodies compared to other gorillas since they live in cooler areas.<\/p>\n
Scientific Classification<\/h3>\n
Kingdom<\/strong>: Animalia Mountain Gorillas live in forests high in the mountains and hills, at approximate elevations of 8,000 to 13,000 feet above the sea level. Mountain Gorillas have thicker fur, and more of it, compared to other great apes like chimpanzee, bonobos, and baboons among others. Their thick fur helps them to survive in a habitat where temperatures often drop below freezing- in other words, the thick fur of Mountain Gorillas provides them warmth. Due to human intervention, Mountain Gorillas have decided to move up into the mountains for longer periods, forcing them to endure dangerous and sometimes deadly conditions.<\/p>\n The mountain gorillas are endangered species of animals as indicated by the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) in red list. There are only about 900 mountain gorillas left in the world and if not preserved and conserved they will be no more mountain gorillas yet there are very important in the ecosystem and also as an attraction in the tourism world. Different organizations have come up to save these gorillas from getting extinct both government and non government organization. Some of the notable ones are Diana Fossey foundation, Gorilla Doctors, International Union of Conservation for Nature and Friend a Gorilla amongst the special ones. These organizations are lobbying efforts in order to save the gorillas. Some of the efforts being put up are training a team to monitor the well being of the gorillas and also to protect them from poachers, they are also sensitizing the locals the importance of the gorillas in the wild.<\/p>\n The main effort that was put up is the mountain gorillas were gazetted and protected in their locale in that they do not compete for shelter with people. Their habitats were made national parks that are protected by the governments of the countries where the gorillas exist. There are four national parks in the world where mountain gorillas are found and these are volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park in Congo and Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks in Uganda. These are the place where a person can get a connection with the mountain gorillas to witness how lovely they are. Thousands of people visit these national parks to hang out with the mountain gorillas.<\/p>\n The activity to meet and watch the gorillas in the wild is called gorilla trekking. This adventure activity involves hiking through the tropical forested mountains of the east central region of Africa to watch the gorillas in their wild. It takes 2-6 hours to find the gorillas in their locale. The gorillas are normally found in a group of 10-30 individuals being led by the silverback the head of the family. The gorilla trackers\/visitors normally spend one hour with the gorillas as they watch the gorillas forage, play, communicate intelligently as though they are real humans. The trackers on gorilla safaris<\/a> also take photos of the gorillas in the wild and these pictures are always magnificent to see when you get back home.<\/p>\n Quick Facts & Information About the Mountain Gorillas<\/strong><\/p>\n The mountain gorillas live in groups that can range in sizes from 2 to 30 or to 40, but most often in groups of 11. There is no mating season and babies are born all year long. Males start breeding at about 15 years of age and females give birth from 10 to 12 years old. Females give birth every two to three years giving 4 to 6 offspring during their lifespan after a pregnancy of 8.5 months. Unlike their powerful parents, newborns are tiny weighing four pounds and able only to cling to their mothers’ fur. These infants ride on their mothers’ backs from the age of four months through the first two or three years of their lives.<\/p>\n Mountain gorillas are among the the most endangered primate species that are only found in three countries in the world. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is one of the four national parks that inhabit the forested mountains in southwestern Uganda. In Africa, mountain gorillas are commonly found in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Forest National Park in Uganda, Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Volcanoes National park among others. The statistics shows that mountain gorillas are mostly visited compared to Cross River Gorillas, Western gorillas and Cross River Gorillas.<\/p>\n Together with the Bwindi impenetrable National Park, these are the only two Ugandan parks that were gazetted by the Uganda government to protect the endangered mountain gorillas.<\/p>\n
\nPhylum<\/strong>: Chordata
\nClass<\/strong>: Mammalia
\nOrder<\/strong>: Primates
\nFamily<\/strong>: Hominidae
\nGenus<\/strong>: Gorilla
\nSpecies<\/strong>: G. beringei
\nSubspecies<\/strong>: G. b. berengei<\/p>\nQuick Facts<\/h3>\n
Gorilla Watching in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park<\/h3>\n