The mountain gorillas feed on the slopes of Mount Mikeno in Virunga National Park. This park is one of only a few places in the world where the vulnerable mountain gorillas reside. This 7,800-square-kilometre park, which is Africa’s oldest national park, is known for its population of mountain gorillas of about 800 in the world, and diversity of its many kinds of habitats, including active volcanoes, mountains, ice fields, savannas, swamps and steppes among others.
The park’s wildlife and habitats have been scratched by the country’s lingering civil war, which among other things led to the park’s rangers to flee and brought in an influx of people from exile that poached the park’s animals and cut down its forests. Poaching, habitat destruction and the felling of trees for charcoal productions continue to threaten the park, and although the civil war is officially over hence leading to the threatening of the National Park.
Compiled by Jackie
Uganda Tourism news, Uganda safari news and gorilla trekking
