Habituation of Gorillas in Uganda

While gorilla trekking only takes an hour, gorilla habitatation allows travelers to spend four hours or more with the critically endangered mountain gorillas. Through the gorilla habituation experience, visitors can also engage in interactions with habituated gorillas and witness their habituated behavior.

It is possible for customers to capture sharp pictures of the gorillas, but in order to avoid frightening them away, the flash lights on the cameras must be turned off. Additionally, as part of this experience, tourists follow the researchers—who are responsible for acclimating the gorillas to human contact—as they offer instructions and recommendations on how best to interact with these primates.

Habituation of Gorillas:

The technique of training endangered mountain gorillas to get accustomed to humans is known as “gorilla habituation.” Researchers, trackers, rangers, and conservationists conduct the training. It takes them two to three years to finish this training. Throughout this time, the researchers consistently made daily visits to specific groups of wild gorillas and learned a great deal about each one of them, including their distinctive names and behaviors. The mountain gorillas become accustomed to humans over time, and when the researchers verify that it is safe to hike with them, they stage a fictitious visitation where a select group of people, including scientists and media, are permitted to spend time with them. Thus, it is verified that a certain gorilla family is prepared for trekking if they successfully complete this practice. Clients should be prepared to deal with semi-habituated mountain gorillas, who may hide and act strangely.

The gorilla habituation experience is limited to four individuals per day for a maximum of four hours. People under the age of 15 are not permitted to participate in this experience; those who are older than that are.

In order to avoid any kind of disappointment, reservations for gorilla habituation experience permits should be made three or six months in advance of the experience, particularly during the months of December through March and July through October. This is because it is peak season, and so a lot of tourists always book and enjoy this experience.

Since obtaining a permit for a gorilla habituation experience costs only $1500—much more than the $800 required for gorilla trekking alone—clients should make sure they obtain this permission well in advance of their intended gorilla habituation adventure. The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) can be contacted directly by email to arrange for a gorilla acclimatization experience, or a tour or safari company can arrange it for you.

There is no gorilla habitat experience in Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo; it is only available in Uganda at the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officially launched the mountain gorilla habitat experience in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park on January 1, 2014, therefore, anyone interested in this experience can only locate it in Bwindi National Park in Uganda.

Only two gorilla families have been approved by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to undergo gorilla habituation; hence, they have been set aside specifically for this experience. Because these two gorilla families are located in Nkuringo and Rushaga in the southern Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, gorilla habituation experiences are limited to this region.

There are roughly eleven habituated gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park overall. These groups are Mubare, Habinyanja, and Rushegura in the park’s northern region, known as “Buhoma,” and Bitukura, Oruzogo, and Kyaguriro in the eastern region, known as “Ruhija.” The “Rushaga” and “Nkuringo” gorilla families, which are located in the southern region of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, are Nshonji, Mishaya, Busingye, Bweza, and Kahungye.

Therefore, you can book your gorilla habituation safari with us and we give you the best experience.

Thank you so much.