Mountain gorillas are subspecies of eastern gorillas. They have a scientific name of the mountain gorilla is the gorilla beringei beringei.
These have got large skulls, wide face and lanky nostrils and much more fur/hair than the eastern lowland gorillas.
These gorillas are only found in the volcanic areas of Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC that are located in the same region at the Virunga Massif and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. They normally live in the mountainous part of the region and it is where they derive their name from the mountain gorillas.
Unfortunately also this subspecies is critically endangered as it has a population of around 1000 gorillas. However, these mountain gorillas are the only subspecies of gorilla that has increased over the years thanks to the government of Uganda and Rwanda and also the international bodies with interests of conserving the gorillas.
Where are the Mountain Gorillas?
The world’s remaining mountain gorillas live in three countries spanning four National Parks in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Volcanoes National Park, and Virunga National Park.
There are two populations. One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. The other is found in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Some primatologists consider the Bwindi population in Uganda may be a separate subspecies, though no description has been finalized. As of September 2016, the estimated number of mountain gorillas remaining is about 1060.
Set off on a once in a lifetime gorilla safari into the lush hills of Uganda and Rwanda to encounter chimpanzees tracking and mountain gorillas in the wild. Observe chimpanzees with a primatologist, and track gorillas in the forests of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Volcanoes National Park.
Behavior of gorillas
The mountain gorilla is highly social, and lives in relatively stable, cohesive groups held together by long-term bonds between adult males and females. Relationships among females are relatively weak. These groups are nonterritorial; the silverback generally defends his group rather than his territory. In the Virunga mountain gorillas, the average length of tenure for a dominant silverback is 4.7 years.
The dominant silverback generally determines the movements of the group, leading it to appropriate feeding sites throughout the year. He also mediates conflicts within the group and protects it from external threats. When the group is attacked by humans, leopards, or other gorillas, the silverback will protect them even at the cost of his own life. He is the center of attention during rest sessions, and young animals frequently stay close to him and include him in their games. If a mother dies or leaves the group, the silverback is usually the one who looks after her abandoned offspring, even allowing them to sleep in his nest. Experienced silverbacks are capable of removing poachers’ snares from the hands or feet of their group members.
The mountain gorilla is diurnal, most active between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Many of these hours are spent eating, as large quantities of food are needed to sustain its massive bulk. It forages in early morning, rests during the late morning and around midday, and in the afternoon it forages again before resting at night. Each gorilla builds a nest from surrounding vegetation to sleep in, constructing a new one every evening. Only infants sleep in the same nest as their mothers. They leave their sleeping sites when the sun rises at around 6 am, except when it is cold and overcast; then they often stay longer in their nests.
Aggression
Although strong and powerful, the mountain gorillas are generally gentle and very shy. Severe aggression is rare in stable groups, but when two mountain gorilla groups meet, the two silverbacks can sometimes engage in a fight to the death, using their canines to cause deep, gaping injuries. For this reason, conflicts are most often resolved by displays and other threat behaviors that are intended to intimidate without becoming physical. The ritualized charge display is unique to gorillas. The entire sequence has nine steps:
- progressively quickening hooting,
- symbolic feeding,
- Rising bipedally,
- throwing vegetation,
- chest-beating with cupped hands,
- one leg kick,
- sideways running four-legged,
- slapping and tearing vegetation, and
- thumping the ground with palms
Current Threats to the Gorillas
The population of mountain gorillas is small and very threatened, although it does appear for now to be stable. This is only due to the tireless efforts of the few dedicated locals and expatriates doing their best to counter each threat as it arises.
Poaching
Poaching is an immediate day to day problem. Young gorillas can die in snares set for bushmeat and adults are killed so that their infants can be taken alive for private collectors. Six mountain gorillas are reported to have been killed in 2002 and at least three infants stolen. One, named Mvuyekure, was retrieved. No mountain gorilla has survived for very long in captivity and a decision was made to attempt the difficult task of reintroducing her to the wild. This was not successful and very sadly she died in January 2003. More recently, 2 babies have been retrieved and are being cared for in a larger captive group that includes lowland gorillas in an attempt to make their conditions more natural until they are large enough to be successfully accepted back in the wild.
Human Encroachment
The parks that the gorillas live in are surrounded by some of the most populated rural land in Africa, in places with more than 1,000 people per square mile. Furthermore many refugees in the region are looking for land on which to make a living. Much of the land in the parks is suitable for agriculture and, given that over 90% of Rwandan population depends on subsistence agriculture, the threat is obvious. Indeed in 1968, over 20,000 acres of the park in Rwanda was de-gazetted, about 40% of the total, and turned over to farmland. The situation is compounded by a considerable human need for wood and water. Over 95% of locals use wood as their primary energy source and the harvesting of it is widely done in an unsustainable manner, thereby increasing the risk that the park will be deforested over time. The forest is also a convenient source of water that in dry periods is in very short supply and this further encourages encroachment.
Regional Instability
Mountain gorillas live in one of the most unstable parts of the world. The threats that this gives rise to are from military/paramilitary forces and refugees. In March 1999 a Ugandan gorilla tourist camp was attacked from DR Congo, with several visitors being murdered which caused a severe reduction in the parks’ revenues from tourism. More recently, while Rwanda itself is now very stable, lobbying from the conservation charities was required for the Rwandan government to make the welcome decision to stop the construction of a military road through the park which would have had considerable ecological consequences. During the Rwandan war thousands of refugees fled into the forests and had to survive by cutting firewood and killing game. Later the largest refugee camps the world has known were created on the edge of the park in DR Congo and the refugees understandably supplemented the food and firewood provided by humanitarian organisations with whatever meat and fuel they could obtain from the forest.
Disease
Great apes share more than 96% of their DNA with humans. This makes our anatomy and physiology so similar that gorillas are vulnerable to many of our diseases. They have not built up the same immunities as us over the years and as a consequence humans are potentially a source of disease that could devastate the gorilla population. This has been seen in western DR Congo where the Ebola virus has in recent years killed hundreds of the western lowland gorilla. The risk of disease comes from direct contact with park rangers, tourists (if not appropriately briefed and managed), poachers, wood cutters and water collectors or indirectly via human waste in all its forms!
How can these Threats be Addressed
Many of the threats to gorillas can best be met by making the gorillas and the parks they live in of economic benefit to the people living round them, so local people have an incentive for the park to survive. There is much clear evidence that this approach can be made to work.
Have a look at our project page to see how the Rwandan Gorilla Project is helping local communities co-exist with Mountain gorillas in the Virunga Conservation Area.