More Gorilla Groups Will Be Habituated in Bwindi

Despite the serious concerns of many experts, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is planning to habituate 2 more gorilla groups in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This will bring the total number of habituated groups there to 6.
UWA will then earn even more revenue from gorilla tourism, which currently contributes up to 70% of UWA's revenue. UWA has been partially funded by the World Bank during recent years and will now have to find alternatives for this funding - and the expansion of gorilla tourism is the most promising possibility.
The groups that will be habituated range near Ruhija (this group is already partially habituated) and Rushaga. UWA estimates that it will take two years before they can be visited by tourists.
There are several reasons why the habituation of more groups is regarded as problematic. One problem that has often been discussed is the transmission of diseases. In some cases, it has been proven already that diseases were transmitted from humans to gorillas. The more gorillas are habituated, the more this danger increases.
Another problem is the effect of habituation on the gorillas' behaviour. As several studies have shown, their behaviour is changed by the contact with visitors. The larger a group, the greater is the effect. Each of the habituated gorilla groups is already visited by 8 tourists per day, which is considered a critical number - fewer would be safer. It is not yet clear what effects the altered behaviour will have on the gorilla population in the long term. Moreover, habituated gorillas do not stay away from humans like wild gorillas do - for example, they raid crops in the fields of the local population, and this results in conflicts that have already led to the killing of at least one mountain gorilla.

Habituated Mountain Gorilla Groups

Gorillas in general - overview

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