Why are Gorillas poached?
Why are Gorillas poached? : You could be wondering as to why gorillas are poached. In this article, I bring you some of the reason as to why poachers poach gorillas. First and foremost, Gorillas are termed as apes that usually inhabit forested areas. We have only 2 species of Gorillas in the wild including Western gorillas and Eastern gorillas. Eastern Gorillas are then sub divided into 4 sub species including Mountain Gorillas that usually thrill in the mountainous parts of Africa with in East African Region (Uganda, Rwanda and Congo), Eastern lowland Gorillas residing in Democratic Republic of Congo and western lowland gorillas found in western parts of Africa. Both Eastern lowland and western lowland Gorilla prefer to inhabit areas of low elevation like swamps, marshes etc.
Of all the 4 subspecies of Eastern Gorillas, Mountain gorillas greatly experience a great attack were almost at a point of total extinction in the wild by the 19th century when less than 1000 gorillas were remaining in the wild most especially due to poaching though its population is slightly increasing to over 1000 gorillas thrilling in the wild probably due to conservation plans put in place and creating awareness about the need to preserve these endangered primates in their natural habitats in 3 destination including Uganda the pearl of Africa, Rwanda the land of a thousand hills and Democratic Republic of Congo. In Uganda, Mountain gorillas are trekked in 2 beautiful parks that is Bwindi impenetrable national park a home to the largest population of Mountain gorillas as well as Mgahinga gorilla national park a home to only 1 Nyakagezi gorilla family.
While in Rwanda, Mountain Gorillas are trekked in Volcanoes national park and in Congo mountain gorillas are trekked in Virunga national park. However, Democratic Republic of Congo is blessed to have the other species of gorillas, Eastern Lowland gorillas that are found in Kahuzi Beiga National park. Some of the reasons as to why Gorillas are poached include need for food, traditional medicine, demand for bush meat on Market, Lack of awareness and many more.
Gorillas are as well poached as source of medicine especially used by the traditional healers who believe that some of the body parts of the Gorillas like the head, feet and arms are used to make charm and magical thus poachers end up killing the innocent primates to obtain those body parts and sell them off hence collecting some cash.
Demand for bush meat, Gorillas have been poached and sold off as bush meat that is enjoyed mostly by the elites who feel like it’s so prestigious to have a taste of the gorilla meat as bush meat. Some of the poacher enjoy poaching these gorillas in order to obtain the bush meat for themselves as well as their families though sometimes these gorillas fall in traps set for other bush animals.
Taking an example of places like Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park that were habitats to both mountain Gorillas and the Batwa people that only depended on Hunting and Gathering. Just know that Gorillas couldn’t escape the threat as most of them were hunted down until the government of Uganda rose up and forcefully chased the Batwa out of the forest and as well sensitized them about conservation that saw a slight increase in the population of these gorillas once again making Uganda the top destination with the largest population of Endangered mountain Gorillas for trekking and habituation experience.
Yes, poaching has greatly been a threat to the population of Gorillas though there are other factor that affect these primates in their natural habitats including loss of habitats by the increasing population and cut off the forest to create land for agricultural purposes, diseases especially human diseases like Ebola, Political instabilities and many more.
However, with the poaching and the other threats threatening mountain gorillas, you ought not to miss out an adventurous safari to East Africa to spend an hour with these endangered mountain Gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
By 2021, Gorilla trekking permit in Uganda costs $700 for Foreign nonresidents, $600 for foreign Residents and Ugandan shillings 250,000 for Ugandans and East community member states. In Rwanda a Gorilla trekking permit cots $1,500 making it the most expensive permit in East Africa while in Congo it costs $400 during high season and $200 during low seasons thus the choice is yours whether to trek in Rwanda, Uganda or Democratic Republic of Congo. At Achieve Global Safaris, we are ready to take you on a breath taking Gorilla trekking safari in any destination with in East Africa.