Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus Gorilla is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five subspecies. The DNA of gorillas is highly similar to that of humans, from 95 to 99% depending on what is included, and they are the next closest living relatives to humans after chimpanzees and bonobos.
The mountain gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.
Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers 160 km2 (62 sq mi) of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. It is home to the mountain gorilla and the golden monkey, and was the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey.
The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and is situated along the Democratic Republic of the Congo border next to the Virunga National Park and on the edge of the Albertine Rift. Composed of 321 km2 (124 sq mi) of both montane and lowland forest, it is accessible only on foot. It is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-designated World Heritage Site.
Craig Stanford is Professor of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at the University of Southern California. He is also a Research Associate in the herpetology section of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. He is known for his field studies of the behavior, ecology and conservation biology of chimpanzees, mountain gorillas and other tropical animals, and has published more than 140 scientific papers and 17 books on animal behavior, human evolution and wildlife conservation. He is best known for his field study of the predator–prey ecology of chimpanzees and the animals they hunt in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and for his long term study of the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees and mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.
The eastern gorilla is a critically endangered species of the genus Gorilla and the largest living primate. At present, the species is subdivided into two subspecies. There are 6,800 eastern lowland gorillas or Grauer's gorillas and 1,000 mountain gorillas. Illegal hunting threatens the species.
The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to distinct Afromontane forests with high biodiversity.
The wildlife of Uganda is composed of its flora and fauna. Uganda has a wide variety of different habitats, including mountains, hills, tropical rainforest, woodland, freshwater lakes, swamps and savanna with scattered clumps of trees. The country has a biodiverse flora and fauna reflecting this range of habitats and is known for its primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. There are ten national parks and thirteen wildlife reserves; some 345 species of mammal and 1020 species of bird have been recorded in the country.
Conservation in Uganda is the protection and sustainable use of the country's rich natural resources. It became a significant movement during the British colonial period in the early 20th century and continues to play a major role in Uganda's political economy, as it underpins the tourism industry which accounts for 23.5% of the country's exports.
Tourism in Uganda is focused on Uganda's landscape and wildlife. It is a major driver of employment, investment and foreign exchange, contributing USh 4.9 trillion to Uganda's GDP in the financial year 2012–2013.
The Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) is a post-graduate research institute based in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in south-western Uganda. The institute is a semi-autonomous part of Mbarara University of Science and Technology and is focused on research, training, and monitoring for conservation management in the Albertine Rift ecoregion.
Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) is a non-profit organization based in Uganda and the US that conducts programs to protect gorillas and other wildlife from human and livestock disease risk; to reduce human and livestock diseases in the vicinity of wildlife; to increase the local use of family planning; and to use information/communication technology both to help local-level development and to educate people about the environment. It was founded by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Lawrence Zikusoka, and Stephen Rubanga in 2002. It has a special focus on the endangered mountain gorilla and has programs in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, and cooperative work with parks and wildlife areas extending into Congo and Rwanda.
iGorilla is a software application (app) that is designed for use with the internet and multimedia enabled smartphones iPhone or iPod Touch, which were created by Apple Inc. iGorilla is the first app to be dedicated to the protection of mountain gorillas and is evidence that organizations involved in wildlife conservation are using digital media technology to raise funds and awareness by communicating directly with people who are concerned about the planet’s biological heritage.
Mountain Gorilla is a 2010 three-part television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit that features intimate footage of the last remaining wild population of the eponymous great ape. The BBC filmmakers were granted access to habituated groups of mountain gorillas in their highland stronghold: DR Congo's Virunga National Park and Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The cameras follow field scientists, veterinary teams, and anti-poaching patrols for six months as they watch over the gorillas, providing medical care, protection, and observations on their daily lives. The study of these apes was initiated by the primatologist Dian Fossey in the late 1960s.
Pthirus gorillae or gorilla louse is a species of parasitic sucking louse that afflicts gorillas. It is found in the African continent, specifically in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo. P. gorillae and P. pubis are the only known species that belong to the genus Pthirus, often incorrectly spelled as Phthirus. It is suggested that it is transmitted among its hosts by social grooming, shared bedding and sexual contact.
The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a large primeval forest located in south-western Uganda in the Kanungu District. The Bwindi forest is on the edge of the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, at elevations ranging from 1,160 to 2,607 metres. The forest contains around 160 species of trees and over 100 species of ferns.
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme was formed in 1991 to ensure that the critically endangered mountain gorillas are conserved in their habitat in the mountain forests of the Virunga Massif in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Edinburgh Medal is a scientific medal given at the Edinburgh International Science Festival since 1989. The Edinburgh Medal is an award given each year to men and women recognized for their contributions to science and technology and whose professional achievements have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity. It was instituted by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1988 and has been presented at the Edinburgh International Science Festival since 1989. Each year the recipient attends an awards ceremony and delivers an address at the Festival.
Colin A. Chapman is a professor at the Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an Honorary Lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda, a Member of the Committee of Research and Exploration at National Geographic, and an Associate Scientists of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. Prior to taking on his position at McGill University, he was at the University of Florida in the Department of Zoology from 1993 to 2004. He is internationally recognized for his 30+ years of research into primate ecology, population regulation, nutrition, and disease dynamics and for his contribution to conservation globally.
Lilly Ajarova is a Ugandan conservationist and tourism expert. She is the chief executive officer of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), the Ugandan government agency that is charged with promoting the country as a tourism destination. She was appointed to that position on 10 January 2019.
