What is the success rate of seeing the mountain gorillas in the virunga?
Viewing mountain gorillas in their natural habitat is a dream come true. Be part of our exhilarating gorilla trekking safaris in Congo and enjoy up close with the massive mountain gorillas in the wild while in the Virunga National Park. Like gorilla tours in Uganda, and Rwanda, tourists on gorilla trek in the Virunga NP are allocated already habituated gorilla families.
What is the success rate of seeing the mountain gorillas in the Virunga N/Park? This is one of the frequently asked questions by most visitors on Congo gorilla tours. With our vast experience in organizing gorilla trips, we can say tourists visiting Virunga National Park have about 99% success rate of seeing the endangered mountain gorillas.
Treks are carried out in already habituated gorilla families, and many measures have been put in place to make it easier to locate these apes. Usually, a team of trackers are sent to ascertain the location of the gorillas before the normal gorilla trek begins. The trackers will keep in touch with the guides from the very start of the trek.
A lot has also been done in ensuring that survival of mountain gorillas in the wild through the strict gorilla conservation and protection. This is one reason why there has been an increase in the population of the endangered mountain gorillas to currently 1063. These apes live only in Rwanda, Uganda and D.R. Congo.
Reasons why gorilla tracking success rate is high
- Mountain gorilla families in the Virunga National Park are allocated to tourists with consideration of trekker’s fitness level. This is done to ensure that all visitors make a complete trek and when planning your gorilla tour, it is always advisable to communicate to your tour operator early about your fitness level.
- A team of trackers/advanced team are sent in the forest to search for gorilla groups and they will be in touch with the park guide. The guides are informed of the location of the gorilla group they are searching for. The whole process is aided by the Global Positioning System, satellite radios or phones. Trekking mountain gorillas used to be the most challenging adventure, but things have improved due to technological advancement.
- Gorilla safari holidaymakers are advised to book for gorilla safaris early at least 2 to 4 months before the actual date of visiting these large apes in the wild.
- Only habituated gorilla families are tracked in the Virunga National Park and visitors interact with these large apes is done while maintaining a distance of 8-10 meters.