More gorillas in Uganda

Posted by On December 19, 2019 0 Comment

Outgoing Uganda Minister of Tourism Wildlife & Antiquities, Prof. Ephrahim Kamuntu, unveiled the mountain gorilla populations in the Greater Virunga Conservation Area by declaring the long-awaited global number of the endangered species between Rwanda, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Uganda.

This was after the release of the December 2018 Census results released at the Kampala Serena International Conference Centre. Emceed by UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority ) Public Relations Officer, Gessa Simplicious, the unveiling was presented in collaboration with the Greater Virunga Transboundary and Bwindi-Sarambwe ecosystem revealing that the number of gorillas (gorilla beringei) in the 340-square-kilometer boundary of protected forest increased to 459 in 50 groups and 13 individuals up from an estimated 400 in 2011.

Combined with the published results of the Virunga Mastiff 2015/16 survey of 604, the global figure stands at 1,063. The findings put to rest speculation on gorilla numbers pitting Uganda at 51% of the total population and the remaining 49% shared between the 3 countries. This is the fifth count for this area and the first to include Sarambwe Nature Reserve since surveys began in the 1970s.

photo: Pixabay