Mountain gorillas are back from the brink. But what happens if they run out of room? | Uganda

IT is sunrise on Mount Muhabura, an inactive volcano on the Ugandan-Rwandan border, and Dr. Benard Ssebide is in a hurry to find a family of mountain gorillas before the arrival of tourists. A mass of ferns, vines and thistles encroach on the way, and the guides hack brambles with machetes. Above, the forest whistles in the wind, shiny in the morning light.

“The higher you go, the more the mountain repels,” said Ssebide, stopping for breathing.

After nearly 45 minutes, a stain staining plots of flattened grass and large heaps of fresh green dung dung. We are close.

Then, the forest suddenly opens nine mountain gorillas – the Nyakaagezi family – having breakfast in a clearing. The huge silver back gets a path through a thistle, throwing an indifferent glance from his visitors.

Nearby, a three -year -old juvenile balances on a vineyard watched by his mother. A male teenager shoots a wild blackberry, carefully removing the leaves to eat and growl with satisfaction.

The Virunga mountains, which go to the border region of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is one of the two houses remaining for this endangered gorilla subspecies, identifiable by their thick fur and their stocky frames which help them resist difficult conditions.

In the 1970s and 80s, barely 250 mountain gorillas were left and the naturalists feared that the extinction is close, because the expanding agricultural borders and the forest exploitation devoured their habitat.

But decades of intense conservation efforts – through the war and the Rwandan genocide of 1994 – worked. The number of populations reached more than 1,000 in 2018 and mountain gorillas were demoted to the critical danger of extinction to endanger by the conservation authorities. Next year, a updated count should show another increase. But that has reached a huge cost in human money and life, and no one working with animals is certain of their future.

Over the past two decades, more than 220 rangers have been killed in the side of the DRC of Virunga National Park where M23 and other militias and bandits operate with impunity. Thousands of people have been moved and killed. Even in the safe regions of the scope of monkeys, the threat of human diseases increases.

While the numbers of gorillas continue to increase in their last remaining housing islands, there is a new concern: what happens if they lack space?

In the dense jungle of Muhabura, SSEBIDE, of the Gorilla Doctors conservation organization, and his colleagues Dr Nelson and Dr Fred go to work. From a distance, they check the health of each animal, paying particular attention to any sign of illness or injury.

“They all feed well,” he whispers.

The veterinarians of Gorilla Doctor, who work in the three countries, are essential to the turnaround of the numbers of mountain gorillas, one of the greatest stories of success of the conservation of the last century.

A study attributes half of the increase to veterinarians and their prevention of dozens of deaths, allowing the population to grow slowly.

“We have relationships with so many gorillas. Mark [this family’s dominant male] is just one. There are others. There is another born at Christmas in 2000; I saw him as a baby – now he is a silver back that directs his own group, ”explains Ssebide.

When the doctors of the gorilla began, a large part of their time was spent treating the injuries of the primates taken or lacerated by traps intended for buffaloes and the antelope in the forest.

Now, humans have become a greater problem. Whoever observes animals must now wear a mask, disinfect the hands and keep their distances.

The threat of human colds and flu reflects one of the contradictions at the heart of conservation: humans remain the greatest threat in progress for gorillas while being the source of their salvation.

“Life here has improved”

In his immaculate khakis, Amusa chemongges are not a man with whom to be spoiled. Stretching his arms around his comrades Rangers outside their headquarters, he laughs: “I am the silver back here. These are my black. All challenge, big problem.”

Amusa is the main director in charge of the southern section of the impenetrable national park of Bwindi in Uganda, the other bastion of mountain gorillas, and supervises a lucrative piece of Gorilla company for Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Earlier in the morning, two groups of foreign tourists – each paying $ 800 (£ 585) for an hour with the gorillas – had received their safety briefing.

They will see “used” mountain gorillas: families of primates adapted to their entry into humans. They are not tamed, but have undergone a multi -year process to allow tourist groups to stand next to the meters while they feed and socialize. Without training, the gorillas would flee or attacked people who were approaching too much of them.

More than half of Bwindi’s family groups, housing around 460 mountain gorillas, are used and regularly visited. Local communities receive a share of 20% of tourism income and want more gorilla families to suffer the process.

As visitors arrive just after sunrise, 30 women sing and dance to welcome them. A dozen carriers expect nearby, in the hope of carrying bags. Those who have trouble with the hike can pay $ 300 premises to transport them from top to bottom.

The habitation – and the economy that arose around him – was another pillar of the success of the conservation. The money from the more than 40,000 tourists who visited Bwindi in 2024 raised enough to finance the entire Ugandan national system for a year, explains Amusa.

As in Virunga, Bwindi gorillas are held by subsistence agriculture, a division line between monkeys and humans. But the money of ecotourism has helped finance the buffer zones, made by planting tea – that the gorillas do not eat – around the forest, by discouraging them from feeding on cultures.

“We have to get used to two reasons. One is for tourists, who cannot visit the gorillas if they are very wild – it would be dangerous. The other is so that we can monitor them, ”explains Amusa. “We are very proud of our work. I am happy to see them alive and increasing the figures, ”he says.

There is enthusiasm for the conservation of gorillas among the villagers, even if it was a difficult process. In 1991, hundreds of people were moved from their homes when the limits of the National Park were formalized and the land protected. In certain forest areas, the Aboriginal hunters of Batwa (formerly known as the Pygmies) were forced to go out. But there have been major efforts to find a funnel balance and advantages to communities.

Buhutu Steven, a 44 -year -old tea producer, tends to reach plant acres. Its land border a forest reserve in Batwa.

“I feel that I contribute to the protection of gorillas. When I got involved in tea planting, it was a way to take care of them. Before, the gorillas were in danger, ”he says. “When they got used to gorillas, life here has improved. The guests come and they leave something behind. ”

No more space

Gorillas have also become a booming industry through the border in Rwanda. Isn’t it for a huge bamboo scene built in the shape of two gorillas, you could be forgiven for confusing Kwita Izina – The annual name for Rwanda name for gorilla babies – with a music festival.

Since early in the morning, a DJ has exploded music in the shade of the mountains of the Volcano National Park, on the Rwandan side of the Virunga massif. Celebrities, environmentalists, artists and businessmen meet alongside rangers and guides, with high -level guests invited to appoint a baby. This year is a bumper ceremony: 40 babies need a name.

“It is shame at half-time Super Bowl,” said director Michael Bay before presenting her baby gorilla, UmurageWhich means “heritage”, with a crowd. He promises to make an infant “beautiful” a movie star.

The ceremony, marking its 20th anniversary, contrasts strongly with the way things were. Nearly here, Primatologist Dian Fossey was murdered in 1985 during her campaign against poachers. Today, the Rwandan government increases the size of the park by almost a quarter to provide gorillas with more habitat. The country has also adopted a high -end ecotourism model. Each visitor pays $ 1,500 to visit animals, and some hotels charge more than $ 20,000 per night.

While the number of gorillas is going up, the success of the model forces environmentalists to consider what can happen if more mountainous gorilla housing is necessary in their last two remaining bastions.

“Right now, the park is still large enough for gorillas. We must develop the load capacity. But in the future, if the figures overwhelm us, the government will ask the community to create more land for them, both for their habitat and the buffer zone, “explains Amusa in Uganda.

Researchers will monitor signs of struggle between Gorilla families, an indicator that the figures put pressure on the available habitat. But for the moment, most are convinced that the predictions of the annihilation of mountain gorillas have been so wrong.

“The files indicate that there were many more gorillas here before. I think these areas could take three times more, ”says Ssebide. “But ultimately, you will never know what will happen as the population will develop.”

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