The mountain gorilla habituation activity is a process that is characterized by training and taming the wild gorillas into coexisting with the visiting human beings without any disturbances. This means the animals are able to stay comfortably in their natural vicinity in the presence of human visitors. It’s usually carried out by specialized researchers with great experience on the behavior of mountain gorillas. It is a slow learning process that can cover a period of 2 years and more.

While habituating gorillas, the researchers interact with the gorillas on daily basis monitoring their conduct in the presence of human visitors while the gorillas tend to learn / get accustomed to continuing with their natural practices (playing, eating, or even sleeping) in the presence of human beings without any disturbances. In this process, the gorillas are able to acquire their names, and once the taming process is done, group visiting to the newly habituated gorillas are carried out where groups of 2 and 4 individuals are permitted a four( 4) hours stay with the animals to check their readiness for trekking.

This is a recently introduced tourist activity in Uganda, conducted from Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park under the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). So far, this habituation process is found in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi, comprising of two gorilla groups; Bushaho Gorilla family group and Bukingyi Gorilla family group.
The gorilla habituation process together with other conservation programs have greatly contributed to the lives of these endangered species of wildlife. And as a matter of fact, recent records show a steady rise in the number of the surviving mountain gorillas in the world today with over 1000 creatures. These can be seen around the forested mountainous areas of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Difference between gorilla habituation Safaris & Gorilla Trekking Safaris
Gorilla habituation experience is quit different from the ordinary gorilla trekking in many ways, but the most outstading is the fact that, gorilla habituation allow tourists more time with the gorillas and they have a chance to interact with them longer and more closely as they observe and involve in training them than mountain gorilla trekking.

• The normal gorilla trekking lasts one hour with tourists interacting and viewing habituated families while gorilla habituation has the tourists spending four hours in the vicinity of these creatures, training, taming and teaching them how to co-exist with human beings in their locality without any disturbances.
• For mountain gorilla trekking, groups of 8 individuals are permitted to a single gorilla group in a day while 2 – 4 individuals are permitted to a single habituating gorilla group in a day.
• Mountain gorilla trekking permits are available at 500$ while mountain gorilla habituation permits are provided at 1500$ per individual.
• There are two gorilla groups set apart for gorilla habituation in Rushanga region of Bwindi national park including Bushaho and Biking gorilla groups

NOTE: Tourists interested in taking part in gorilla habituation can now book and secure permits directly from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) or booking through a trusted tour operator are made in advance due to their scarcity- basically 4 permits issued in a day.