Gorilla Tourism - pros and cons

In Uganda, gorilla tourism started with Walter Baumgärtel, who operated the Travellers Rest Hotel in Kisoro from 1955 to 1969. In 1978, the Mountain Gorilla Project in Rwanda started to habituate gorillas for tourists. From 1973 to 1989, the results of censuses of the Virunga gorillas increased from 261 to 324 individuals. Some people think that tourism is the reason for this positive development.
Currently, several areas offer the opportunity to visit eastern and western gorillas. In order to avoid stress for the apes, the number of tourists visiting a gorilla group is usually restricted to six and the time the tourists are allowed to spend with the gorillas is limited to one hour.
The rationale for tourist visits is to assist gorilla conservation by generating revenue from them. However, tourism can have a negative impact on the animals.   >