Are gorillas only in Africa!

Are gorillas only in Africa? Among all the primates in the world, gorillas are the most intriguing. This is attributed to their physical structure and close likeness to humans sharing up to 98% DNA with humans. While chimpanzees may be cleverer and more intelligent, they are too aggressive compared to gorillas. Gorillas are generally described as calm and gentle giants.

There are two main species of gorillas in the world; that is the western gorillas and the eastern gorillas. Each of these species are also further sub-divided into two sub-species. The western gorillas are split into the western lowland gorillas and the cross-river gorillas and the eastern gorillas are split into the eastern lowland gorillas and the mountain gorillas. Among these species, the western gorillas are the most with a total population of over 250,000.

Due to the uniqueness of this species, an encounter with the gorillas often makes it to most people’s bucket list.

Gorillas are native to Africa therefore can only be seen in Africa in their natural habitat or in the wild. These gorillas inhabit different regions of Africa with the Eastern gorillas inhabiting the East and Central Africa in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic of Congo and the Western gorillas inhabiting the regions of Central and West Africa in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.

Despite the different species being genetically different from one another and having some differences in appearance, all the gorilla species share a few traits- broad shoulders and chests, larger forearm, eyes that are close together, a hairless face and nostrils that are very defined.

Over the years, the Eastern lowland gorillas, the cross-river gorillas and the western gorillas have been moved other continents around the world such as Asia where they are kept in captivity in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. This makes it possible to see the eastern lowland gorillas and the western gorillas in other parts of the world without necessarily visiting Africa however you will only be able to see them in captivity but not their natural habitat.

Unlike the other species, mountain gorillas have failed to survive in captivity despite the several attempts made to implement this. This is due to their complex diet and sensitivity to stress and human illnesses. As a result, mountain gorillas can only be spotted in the tropical rain forests in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo during a gorilla trekking adventure in one of the gorilla parks in these destinations. These are; Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park in Uganda, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

While planning a mountain gorilla trekking adventure, the key requirement is a gorilla trekking permit. In Rwanda, the gorilla trekking permit costs $1500 per permit for foreign non-residents, $500 per permit for foreign residents and African citizens, and $200 per permit for Residents of Rwanda and East African residents. In Uganda, the gorilla permit costs $800 per permit for foreign non-residents, $700 per permit for foreign residents, and 300,000/= for East African citizens.