Uganda Gorilla Tours -

A gorilla is the bulkiest member of the primate family where even man belongs. An adult gorilla may grow up to 1.8m high (although they seldom stand fully upright). In the world, three species of gorillas are recognized world wide. The most common race, the western lowland gorillas (G. g. gorilla) is not present in Uganda but an estimated 40000 live in the rainforests of west and central Africa. The endangered eastern lowland gorilla (G. g. graueri) is restricted to patches of forests in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The most threatened specie is the mountain gorilla (G. g. beringei). Their total number is estimated to be only 720. Half of these mountain gorillas live in Uganda's Bwindi Forest and Mgahinga National Park. The mountain gorillas have become Uganda’s most major star attraction and a Uganda Safari cannot be complete without tracking the mountain gorilla from either Bwindi or Mgahinga National park!. Several groups of the mountain gorillas have been habituated in Bwindi and Mgahinga Forests. With the habituation of more mountain groups in the past year, the chances of seeing the rare mountain gorillas from Uganda are quite higher if compared with other destinations (Rwanda and Congo) where the endangered apes live.

Mountain gorillas are characterized with a number of different features. These include;

They generally have longer hair than the other subspecies

Their arms are longer than their legs. Whenever they are walking, they quadrupely knuckle walk, while supporting their weight on the third and fourth digits of their curled hands.

Like humans and other primates, each individual gorilla has distinctive fingerprints.

Looking at their size the male mountain gorillas are bigger than their female counterparts. Adult males have silvery white fur at their backs that inspired the name silverback.

It is this silverback which heads the family.

Standing on two legs, an adult mountain gorilla stands about five and a half feet, weighing between 300 and 400 pounds. Females on average weigh only 200 pounds.