Franklin Park Zoo Gorillas

Blog

  • Gorilla Photography

    If you’re searching to get more out of your digital photography, you may well be curious about studying exactly how to do the trick pictures the experts are able to accomplish. These photographs are generally inventive and fascinating to the eye, and they normally appear like something that was edited rather than a snapshot that has been taken. The best part is, you won’t have to acquire expensive devices to be able to take these pictures. All of them are something you’ll be able to attain by using a standard dslr camera.

    In case you are considering discovering how you can accomplish trick photography, you’re not going to need to devote a lot of money to take instructional classes or posses any high end camera. Just about all you are going to need to begin may be a basic DSLR camera as well as an e book that will show you each of the methods, such as the Evan Sharboneau trick photography book. You can actually work through the particular guide to learn all of the tricks and tips you are interested in. Next, you’ll be able to display your new photo taking expertise and also wow friends and family alike.

    If you’d like to accomplish a lot more along with your dslr camera than take primary pictures, start by figuring out how to do trick digital photography now. You’ll be satisfied with the good quality of pictures you will be capable of taking, and you will wind up running out of wall surface area to showcase all of the imaginative and beautiful photographs you’re taking.

  • Guide to Mountain Gorilla Trekking

    Uganda and Rwanda are a home to the two best destinations for gorilla trekking in Africa. Gorilla Trekking is one of the most popular wildlife encounters in the world. Are you looking to excellent mountain gorilla trekking in Africa? For first time visitors, both countries have several things to do with mountain gorilla trekking as the top wildlife adventure every day and every year.

    The Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Bwindi Forest Reserve in Uganda is the best two gorilla trekking parks that tourists visit most to witness daily life style and close observation of mountain gorillas as well as culture and other forest habitats. Come eye to eye with the silverback in either Bwindi forest or Volcanoes National park and watch other gorilla family members play and relax in their natural environment for the one hour duration allowed to be with the great primates for photography and observation before ending the day’s trek.

    However, those on gorilla habitation experience spend more time with the gorillas and are only allowed to trek the gorilla families under the habituation process. To explore both parks, tourists book Rwanda and Uganda gorilla trekking safaris and track mountain gorillas twice in Rwanda and Uganda.

    Volcanoes National Park

    One of the world most magnificent mountain gorilla trekking destinations in Rwanda bordering Uganda, Tanzania and Congo and it forms a great gorilla trekking Platform for those interested in tracking gorillas on short notice or twice in different particular gorilla parks. It’s named after the many Rwanda volcanoes mountains, volcanoes National park is home of several mountain gorillas, golden monkeys and other forest species.

    Fantastic primates safaris in Rwanda are available here daily Monday –Sunday, January to December every year. Perhaps it’s the only place in Africa where one can trek mountain gorillas in just a day and even fly back home for other life commitments. The park is famous for gorilla trekking & golden monkey tours an exciting primate adventure where tourists come in close contact with gorillas and golden monkeys as well as other forest habitants. Volcanoes National park is also know for providing excellent wildlife conservation example to all wildlife parks in the world due to its progress in mountain gorilla conservation. No need to worry about overnight stays in this park because there are many lodges and campsites that cater for luxury, mid-range and budget travelers to the park.

    Bwindi Forest National Park

    The most popular mountain gorilla destination in Africa located in south western Uganda in the district of Kabale and Kisoro.This is where classic wildlife encounter take place on most Uganda gorilla trekking safaris. Meet several primates, birds and wildlife by heading out on a Uganda safari to Bwindi forest National Park the paradise home for unique primates.

    The park has been always called the most fine gorilla trekking destination with half of the world remaining mountain gorillas, more than 10 habituated gorilla trekking families and a few others for gorilla habituation and research. Primate lovers enjoy looking at several primates’ species, waterfalls, birds, endless think forest canopy, and the real ancient Uganda tradition of the Batwa people known as people of the forest.

    Get a chance to meet up, chat and spend time with the forest people who formerly used to depend and live in the forest with gorillas as their close neighbors. The best time to explore Bwindi forest is year round though June-October and December to march are considered to be best months of travel due to being dry.

  • Get Started With Planning an African Safari

    When the word safari clicks to your mind, you think of Africa as the destination to enjoy the trip. Taking a safari tour as a vacation expedition is a vision of ecstasy for many of us. It may look easy as many think as it is just booking for a trip then have a blast.

    However, we tend to forget Africa is the second largest continent in the world and it has more than 50 countries. These countries vary in the nature experience that is the animals, vegetation, people, climate, scenery and landscape. The places or destination that can give the traveler the best experience in Africa is affected by the time of the year he/she is willing to travel.

    Nonetheless, Africa’s safaris basing on nature, it appeals to all sorts of tourists that is those who want to travel with families, those that want spend time on an exquisite resort, tourists that want adventure and camping in the national parks and also those who want to enjoy romantic moment with their lovers.

    You may not how to go about a safari in Africa but all you have is idea of places you would love to go to, the nature of the safari tour and the wildlife you would love to see. Here we render you the services of explaining to you the different countries or place to visit so that you choose the best for you,

    Africa Safaris

    To enjoy a gorilla safari in Africa, you need to make enough preparations.

  • Gorilla Trekking Tours in Africa

    Planning for the best African gateway experience before your death? Visit the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Once you choose to go for gorilla tours in Rwanda or Uganda, you should consider some of the highlights and budget for them in your planning and among them are: porters who will help you carry your backpackers and also give you a hand during challenging spots on the hike. The cost to hire a porter is $15. Hiring a porter for such a nominal fee compared to the actual permit at least provides locals with much needed employment. Some are even reformed poachers and the parks are trying to educate them the Eco-tourism.

    The actual hike to the gorillas can range anywhere from 1 to 6 hours. Although usually the most difficult, many people seek to visit the Susa group. Not only is this the largest gorilla group you can visit, it is also a group Dian Fossey studied for years and it is the most difficult trek.

    Another sought after group is that guided by Francois Bigirimana – the most famous and knowledgeable guide around. With over 30 years’ experience, including working with Fossey, Francois is in a league of his own. Having lived with a group of gorillas for an extended period of time, Francois is even able to communicate with them through grunts, shrieks and chest thumps. He knows the gorillas and they know him.

    Although the gorilla trekking experience can be physically demanding the beauty of the forest and surrounding scenery always makes the trekking a worthwhile experience. Once the gorillas are located, all fatigue is forgotten, the joy of finding your gorilla troop will only be overcome by the amazement of watching the gorillas go about their daily routine. The gorilla group is likely to be chilled out and eating celery, indulging in grooming, or involved in some other primal social activity. Looking deep into the eyes of the silver back gorilla is surely the most thrilling and profound wildlife encounter that Rwanda has on offer.

    Gorilla Trekking Rules

    There are certain guidelines trekkers should follow to ensure their safety and the safety of the gorillas:

    • Do not trek if you have a cold or flu.
    • Keep a distance of 7 meters away (the gorillas can still approach you)
    • No eating or drinking near the gorillas
    • Keep your voice low and movements slow
    • Avoid eye contact

    The gorilla trekking experience- general schedule of the day

    • 7am Check in at park headquarters. You sign up, drink some coffee and wait around for a bit. Drivers and rangers negotiate group assignments. Once decided, you will meet guides for a briefing.
    • 8am your driver will take you to the start of the trek. Each group has a different starting point. Guides will hitch a ride in one of the cars.
    • Begin trek with guides, porters and armed military officers.
    • First 30 minutes will be an easy walk through flat farmlands. Once the forest boundary is reached, the actual trek begins.
    • Remember, trek length varies (usually between 1-5 hours).
    • Once you reach the vicinity of the gorillas, porters will stay behind with all bags. Only cameras and whatever you have in your pockets are allowed.
    • Visitors are allowed 1 hour to observe the gorillas and may take photos at this time. You will observe playing, fighting, eating, swinging on trees among the gorilla family.
    • Before you know it, time is up and you find yourself hiking back through the forest, past the farmland and driving back to the park headquarters.
    • You will receive a certificate of completion at park headquarters. We returned at 1:10 p.m. but this will be later if your trek is longer.
    • Hire Your Own Porter: Though they are typically not included in your permit or guide price, hire one at the park gate. For just $20 a day, he can assist you with your backpack and your water, or help give you that extra push up a hill (a $15 tip at the end of your trip is customary).
    • One to Watch: Democratic Republic of the Congo the 12-bungalow Mikeno Lodge just opened in Virunga National Park in the D.R.C. While political instability currently impedes travel to the country, Virunga has the highest biodiversity of any park in the world place to track.

  • Encounter the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda

    Most tourists planning to visit any African country always worry about not meeting their expectations and most of them perceive Africa as an insecure tourism destination. That is very wrong because Rwanda is today one of the safest country to be in for a tour or wildlife safari. Though Rwanda was affected by the 1994 Rwandese genocide, the country has greatly recovered over the decades and today its one of the most developed countries in east and central Africa. The country has various tourism attractions evenly distributed all over the country. Of the many attraction are mountain gorillas located in volcanoes national park.

    Mountain gorilla encounters in volcanoes national park in Rwanda are some of the mind blowing and astonishing experiences that one can have ever have on a safari in Rwanda. They were most made popular to the western world by Dian Fossey an American zoologist who spent years in the forests studying these untamed animals.

    Mountain gorillas are the largest of the Apes family and are close to humans having over 95%DNA similar to humans. They are strong and their enormous size makes them a little dangerous. Mountain gorillas are a little shy and spend most of their time hiding in the wild feeding, females looking after their young mountain gorillas and the males – silverback gorillas always looking for new feeding grounds and very determined to protect their territories.

    Mountain gorilla permits are the first things to think about in Rwanda because mountain gorilla trekking is an activity preferred by many tourists and only 80 gorilla permits are available for tourists a day. Only 8 tourists are allowed to track one of the 10 mountain gorilla families in the national park. The permits are sold at $750.

    The Volcanoes National Park can be easily accessed from Kigali international airport just after a 2-3 hours drive on a well-developed tarmac road. You do not need to worry about accommodation because volcanoes national park has a number of well developed lodges where one can have a good night sleep while preparing for the greatly anticipated mountain gorilla day. The standard accommodation facilities where one can relax include gorilla Mountain View lodge, Sabyinyo silverback lodge and Virunga lodge among others.

    After having a good sleep and waking up early morning to the sounds of the birds and great views of the beautiful the gently sloping hills covered with evergreen forests, tourists head to the Kinigi park headquarters where they are served with locally made hot coffee and tea as the a local group of entertainers bring lots of smiles to your faces jumping and dancing. You are then divided into groups of 8 and allocated to the 10 gorilla families. After being briefed, you then head to the jungles in search for the allocated gorilla group, which takes from 30 minutes to 5 or 6 hours.

    Just a step in the forest introduces you the true African wilderness and sounds of nature. The guides in volcanoes national park are always willing to explain to the tourists the jungle and some of its inhabitants. As the journey proceeds, your guide is informed by the trackers who usually go ahead of the tourists tracking where exactly the gorillas are.

    In just few minutes after having given proper direction by the trackers, a look through the vegetation introduces you to the mountain gorilla. All covered with black fur, a look in the mountain gorilla dark eyes is first scary but as look more you eventually get moved.

    The gorillas just relax eating the leaves in the reach of their hands as they stare at the very curious tourists taking their photographs.

    While here, tourists are advised tourists are advised to keep a reasonable distance to avoid being attacked by the gorillas. An allowance of just an hour is given to the tourists and when it elapses, they are directed back to the headquarters, given certificates of participation for having gone for the great adventure. In addition to the remarkable gorilla experience, being in Rwanda feels like being home away from home and this explains why tourists are always forced to visit the country again.

  • World Population of Mountain Gorillas now estimated at 880

    A census of mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei, conducted in 2011 in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, confirms a minimum population of 400 gorillas, raising the world population of mountain gorillas to 880. The official result was released today by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

    The increase in the Bwindi population since the last census, from 302 in 2006 to 400 in 2011, is attributed to improved census techniques of these rare and elusive apes as well as real population growth.

    In this latest census, teams systematically moved through Bwindi not once, but twice, looking for and documenting mountain gorilla night nests and feces, and collecting fecal samples for genetic analysis. The first sweep was conducted with a small team from February 28 to September 2, 2011 and the second sweep conducted with multiple teams from September 10 to November 3, 2011. With the genetic analysis, scientists were able to determine how many unique groups and individuals were found by the field census teams through both sweeps.

    In short, the two sweeps of Bwindi allowed census teams to find more gorillas than a single sweep would have. Further, it is likely that some gorillas were missed by field census teams in the 2006 census of Bwindi’s mountain gorillas. But all signs are that this population of mountain gorillas is indeed growing.

    “This method gives us the clearest picture of the status of mountain gorillas in Bwindi that we have yet had,” states Maryke Gray, Technical Advisor to the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).”Even with evolving census methods, the results indicate that this population has indeed increased over the last five years, and that is very encouraging for this critically endangered species.”

    Mountain gorillas live in social groups and the census results indicate that the 400 mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park form 36 distinct social groups and 16 solitary males. Ten of these social groups are habituated to human presence for either tourism or research and included, at the time of the census, 168 mountain gorillas or 42% of the Bwindi population.

    While it was initially planned to include ICCN’s Sarambwe Nature Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a protected area continuous with Bwindi and therefore potential habitat for mountain gorillas, it was not possible due to insecurity in the Sarambwe area at the time of the census.

    The total world population of mountain gorillas now stands at a minimum of 880, representing the 400 individuals in Bwindi confirmed in this 2011 census and 480 mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif confirmed by a census in 2010. Both populations of mountain gorillas have had positive trends in population growth over the last decade.

    “In fact, the mountain gorilla is the only great ape whose population is increasing despite continuous pressure on its habitat. This positive trend is due to the strong collaboration among the three countries where mountain gorillas live and the collective efforts on the ground by park staff, surrounding communities and local government, and non-governmental organizations,” adds Dr. Augustin Basabose, Interim Director of IGCP.

  • “Jersey Friends of Virunga” – a Community Supporting Virunga Gorillas

    Jonathan Stark is on a mission to raise up his Jersey community in support of Virunga National Park.

    Many people have asked how they can support the Virunga Park of DR Congo in a meaningful way. We believe wholeheartedly that a single individual can be the spark that makes a difference. Jonathan Stark is one of these people.

    Jonathan wanted to help Virunga. He lives on the small island of Jersey between England and France and works for the Durrell Wildlife Park. With the help of our Virunga staff, Jonathan created the “Jersey Friends of Virunga” with the mission to gain a commitment from the Jersey community to help protect a specific sector of Virunga National Park.
The goal is to raise enough money for the annual running costs of the Mikeno Sector – home of our mountain gorillas – by encouraging local businesses and individuals to make an annual pledge and raise approximately £64,300 per year.

    Last Wednesday, the Jersey Friends of Virunga (JFoV) kicked things off with publicity in the local papers, the launch of the new website, and an event at Durrell that included an introduction of the project and an auction to raise money. Sarah Bendelow, who is from Jersey and works for Virunga National Park, introduced the Jersey Friends of Virunga concept of uniting the island community in support of the rangers of the Mikeno sector, where 200 of the worlds 800 remaining critically endangered mountain gorillas live.  The auction of Virunga merchandise, many of which traveled all the way from Congo, made a nice profit for the park.

    Jonathan was very happy with the evening launch of the project.  “All in all it was a great night, raising around £600 for the park whilst helping to spread the message of Virunga to a wider audience. Like I’ve said before, all great journeys must begin with a single step and after the interest generated by the opening night I think we can attract real support from Jersey for this amazing national park.”

    If you would like to start a similar project in your own community, please contact us by responding below in the comments, or sending us an email at  info at gorilla.cd. The park is facing a financial crisis. Imagine if hundreds of people like Jonathan, like you, were able to raise up supporters for the park in their own community. You could change the world from your own home.

  • A Gorilla Murder Trial

    In a recent murder trial in Uganda, the three accused killers were fined the equivalent of $19 each. The victim was a mountain gorilla named Mizano.

    On 17th June 2011, poachers entered Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Park with hunting dogs and killed a blackback mountain gorilla with a spear that penetrated its lung. The blackback was the heir to the only silverback in his family. The poachers were looking for antelope caught in snares they had set earlier.

    The following day, police dogs lead the investigation team to a neighboring community where they found the three suspects.

    The presiding magistrate in the case said that prosecution had failed to produce enough evidence that the three actually killed the gorilla. The magistrate also noted that no DNA test was carried out to link the blood samples found on the panga and spear picked from one of the suspects’ house to the blood sample of the dead gorilla. This however, is despite the fact that the doctors who carried out the post mortem were never invited to give their testimony in court.

    One suspect was convicted on two counts including entering a protected area without authority and possession of illegal devices capable of killing wildlife species. He was fined the equivalent of $19. The other two suspects were each convicted on one count of trying to escape arrest after running away on seeing police. They were each given the same fine.

    The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) issued a statement yesterday expressing their dismay at the ruling:

    “Uganda Wildlife Authority is greatly dismayed by the light sentence that was handed down by court to the three men that were arrested for the murder of a mountain gorilla. Although we will not appeal the sentence, we express our shock in the strongest terms and we will be bringing up this issue with the Office of the Chief Justice. Conservation in Uganda continues to face the challenge of having judiciary officials that do not fully appreciate the value of wildlife to the country, and are therefore ready to hand down light sentences to suspects.”

  • Why a CMS Agreement for the Conservation of Gorillas?

    Large primates, and especially the largest of all, the Gorilla, have always generated inspiration and fascination for the people of all continents.

    We welcome the fact that some gorilla populations are the object of concerted conservation and restoration efforts. However gorillas as a whole remain in danger of extinction, and continue to face severe threats. The main threats are the destruction or modification of their habitat by deforestation; woodland exploitation; increasing demand for arable land and energy (charcoal); and the development of infrastructure such as forest roads. Hunting and trading in wild bushmeat are an important problem for the western plains gorilla (Gorilla g. gorilla). Viral epidemics and unstable political climates are also among the threats to which all gorilla populations are exposed today.
    height=

    Many national and international, governmental and non-governmental organisations, are working to multiply conservation actions and efforts to attempt to remedy this critical situation. These initiatives include anti-poaching campaigns, reforestation efforts, development of eco-tourism, implementation of development projects in the regions bordering the areas protected for gorilla conservation and programmes of rehabilitation. Many of these organisations, and the governments involved are now part of GRASP, a partnership between governments, international institutions (notably UNEP and UNESCO), NGOs and the private sector whose objective is great ape conservation.

    CMS itself is a GRASP partner and we have agreed that CMS main contribution in the next few years will be to facilitate the negotiation and application of a CMS Agreement and Action Plan to support gorilla conservation.

    For gorillas, CMS aims to establish the legal structure necessary to make all the initiatives durable and to integrate conservation actions in collaboration with the 10 States covered by the distribution range of the gorilla: Angola, Cameroon, Republic of Central Africa, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda, for the conservation of gorillas and of their habitat. For more then 20 years, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) has been developing and implementing regional agreements under the terms of Article IV of the Convention. These agreements are one of the main conservation tools of the Convention.

    The UNEP/CMS Secretariat is working MoP1 for Gorilla.CMS UNEP.Nov.2008. Click to enlarge. height=with the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, in partnership with the GRASP UNEP/UNESCO Secretariat, and in consultation with the gorilla range states and the other partners of GRASP, to developp this Agreement, and initiate its implementation via a regional, transborder Action Plan. CMS and its partners have engaged themselves to develop and implement this Agreement, and to provide the gorilla range states, as well as the other governments and organisations involved, with a legal framework that will reinforce and integrate conservation efforts.

    Through this Internet work site, you have now access to all documents in preparation, on which we would be very glad to have your comments and suggestions. These documents in preparation include “Gorilla Agreement”, which will be associated with conservation status reports for the 4 taxa, as well as a first draft of a regional Action Plan for Gorillas and their habitats. In drafting these, the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences and its partners, are basing their work on the existing action plans, including the national and regional plans developed within the GRASP framework; they will, among other things, concentrate on the development of standard data collection, analyses and diffusion, in consultation with CMS, GRASP and its partners, and the range states.

    This working website should allow the whole scientific and nature preservation communities to take part in the elaboration of the better documents possible. We expect your comments and suggestions. The documents are available from the entry point « working group », on the website. Don’t forget to sign up.

    We hope you will agree that such an Agreement, as well as the projects which will result from it, will contribute to promoting the long term survival of gorillas, their forest habitat and dependent human populations. This should in turn make a tangible contribution to the 2010 targets for biodiversity, and allow the States concerned to combine conservation and long lasting economic development.

  • Great Gorilla Run

    This coming Saturday is the annual Great Gorilla Run in London, UK. Hundreds of people dress up as gorillas and run around the city to raise money for our projects out here in Africa – it is an amazing event.

    Three years ago I was given the fantastic opportunity to travel to London and take part in the Great Gorilla Run – it was one of the best days of my life!

    When I was told that I was going to London It was difficult to imagine what it would be like. And when I was told that I would be running 7kms around London dressed in gorilla suit … well, that was another point. I think my neighbors still remember seeing me running through the streets of Gisenyi, my town in Rwanda, as I trained for the Great Gorilla Run.

    September arrived and I travelled more than 6000km to reach London. I was really excited to see what this town, which I have heard so much about, was really like!

    The D-day arrived, and I met all the other gorilla runners at Minster Court and started putting on my gorilla suit. I was happy to wear number 700, the number of mountain gorillas living in the world at the time.

    Until then, I was confident with my training, my thoughts were to win it. However, I realised that this was not going to be an easy run. As I waited at the start it was so strange seeing many different people excited about dressing as gorillas and trying to imitate their behaviours by either eating a banana, roaring or charging!

    Each time, I was wondering what would happen if they saw real gorillas. Or, if those gorilla statues at Minster court were real gorillas seeing them!?! Surely they would be delighted to see a human struggling to become a gorilla!!

    Once the kick off was given, I started running following others and holding a collection bucket, which I was using to collect money from viewers enjoying the Sunday sun! I can remember being stopped by a couple, probably, they wanted to check if I was a real gorilla and to prove this I charged!!! They ran away but immediately came back and put some coins into the bucket before wishing me success!

    Although I had studied the map of the run, I couldn’t locate myself between the high buildings. It was difficulty to see the sky and the sun which is how we traditionally find our way in Rwanda. I was simply following others!!

    I can not remember how many bridges I crossed, I could not even remember how long it took me, what I remember is that I did it, it was amazing and raised I collected £75 in my bucket during the run!!