Are Mountain Gorilla Treks in Uganda Ethical?

Mountain Gorilla Trekking is one of the unmissable wildlife experiences in Africa and most people who visit this Continent try their best to catch a glimpse of these primates’ daily lives any animal rights activist or nature love would wonder; are mountain gorilla treks ethical?

The respective Governing bodies of countries where Mountain Gorillas are found (Uganda Wildlife Authority, Rwanda Development Board, and Institut Congolais la Conservation de la Nature) as well as local tourism stakeholders have in the years some up with detailed and clear Conservation initiatives and even gone ahead to enact pacts that will, in the long run, guarantee ethical undertaking of mountain gorilla treks.

There is a total of only about 1063 mountain gorillas left in the wild (as of the 2018 official mountain gorilla census). Of these gorillas, about 459 live in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and this Park received its first gorilla trekkers in 1993, just two years after it was officially gazetted into a National Park. There were only two gorilla groups in the Park at the time but the good news is that the numbers have tremendously grown through the years to presently 21 gorilla groups in this 321-square kilometer Protected Area.

As surprising as it may sound, the mountain gorillas in the wild would have been no more if it wasn’t for gorilla trekking tours and one of the greatest achievements is the upgrading of these Giant Apes to “endangered” status in 20018 from “critically endangered” status, following the growth in their numbers. For travelers to be allowed to get into the presence of these Giant Apes, there is a need to first acquire a valid gorilla trekking permit, issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority.

These permits guarantee entry into the Park, a Ranger Guide plus the one hour in the presence of Giant Apes (for standard gorilla treks) and four hours (for the Gorilla Habituation Experience. The revenue derived from gorilla trekking mainly goes back into the conservation of these Giant Apes while a small percentage is given back to the local community whose indirect contribution and sacrifice towards gorilla conservation cannot be overlooked. Therefore when you book for a gorilla permit, you ate directly contributing towards the protection of mountain gorillas in the wild as the money is used for remuneration (of gorilla doctors, tourism police, and Ranger guides), research, Monitoring, and treatment of sick mountain gorillas.

If you can vividly remember tourism greatly suffered during the peak of Covid-19 restrictions of 2020 when most countries were under lockdown and National Parks closed, this led to the increase in poaching rate thus there is an ethical correlation between Gorilla trekking adventures as well as the subsequent conservation of these Giant Apes. It is during this period that the prominent silverback (Rafiki aged 25 years) was murdered by poachers and his body was discovered a day after.

On the question of whether mountain gorilla treks are ethical, the answer is yes because gorilla tourism is literally the driver to the conservation of these endangered Giant Apes. After all, is said and done, conservation comes first before the revenue derived from gorilla trekking and because of this, the activity is conducted under strict guidelines to avoid causing harm to these gentle beasts that are already few in number as well as destroying their natural environment.

The mountain gorillas that are trekked are first subjected to 2-3 years of habituation process to make them accustomed to human presence thus avoiding being timid and aggressive on encountering visitors. The guidelines to be followed while trekking mountain gorillas are always issued during the briefing and they include; maintaining a minimum distance of 7 meters from the Giant Apes to reduce any risk of spreading pathogens, not eating in the presence of the gorillas, rescheduling, or canceling gorilla treks if you are sick, avoiding direct eye contact with the Giant Apes, not using flash cameras, keeping minimal voices, carefully listening to the instructions of Ranger guides and keeping to your group, not eating, drinking or smoking in the presence of the Giant Apes, being of age (15 years) before booking gorilla trekking tours and sticking to the allocated one hour for mountain gorilla viewing and photography.

In conclusion, gorilla treks in Uganda are ethical because these tours have significantly contributed towards the conservation of Giant Apes, with revenue from these activities.