Gorilla Habituation in Uganda
Spend four hours with mountain gorillas by booking our gorilla habituation experience safaris. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through Uganda Wildlife Authority introduced mountain gorilla habituation experience to all interested clients effective 1st January 2014. All those interested in the habituation experience pay USD1500.00 per person per experience. According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, two gorilla families have been put aside and dedicated for this experience in Rushaga region of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
In this experience, clients spend more time (four hours) with mountain gorillas compared to gorilla trekking, which is restricted to only one hour. It is true that normal gorilla trekking can take three-quarters of the day but this involves a trek to and from the gorillas but the actual time spent with the gorillas for observation and photography is only one hour. With mountain gorilla habituation experience, clients will move with experts/those who habituate gorillas, spend more time, and see how gorillas are habituated to get used to human beings. This experience has attracted more tourists since your spend more time (Four hours) compared to those interested in doing two treks. The only difference is that those going for this experience should expect to visit semi habituated mountain gorillas which can decide to hide, behave in a manner that is not usual and the experience can be stopped upon advice from the experts and guides. For more information about gorilla habituation experience safaris, kindly read frequently asked questions or contact one of our consultants at Marvel Gorilla Adventure. We book gorilla habituation experience permits and so much more. All those interested in Gorilla habituation safaris for 2025-26 should contact us for more details.
Gorilla habituation is a process where wild mountain gorillas are trained to get used to people (Not actual definition). Gorilla Habituation may take between two to three years to be completed and during this time, researchers keep on visiting an identified Wild gorilla group on a daily basis. They get to learn more about individual gorillas and the way they behave. With time, these gorillas get used to these researchers and in the long run, each individual gorilla is given a name. Once researchers are sure that these mountain gorillas can be trekked, they then introduce a mock exercise where some few people who may include scientists, journalists start visiting it. Once such a gorilla family has passed mock exercise, then it is opened for trekking.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has about 19 habituated gorilla families which include Mubare, Habinyanja and Rushegura in the Northern section of the park called Buhoma, then Bitukura, Oruzogo and Kyaguriro in the Eastern Part of Bwindi in Ruhija, Nshonji, Mishaya, Busingye, Bweza, Kahungye in Rushaga and then Nkuringo Gorilla Family all in the south. At the moment, eighty-eight gorilla permits are available for purchase from Uganda Wildlife Authority. Two gorilla families have been put aside for gorilla habituation experience and are located in the Nkuringo and Rushaga side of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It’s, for this reason, that gorilla habituation safaris can only be done in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
HOW TO BOOK GORILLA HABITUATION EXPERIENCE PERMITS
For one to spend four hours with mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable National Park, one has to hold a valid gorilla habituation experience permit for Rushaga or Nkuringo. Uganda Wildlife Authority issues gorilla habituation permits out with cash payment on first come first serve. Only four people are allowed to spend four hours with mountain gorillas per day. This is because these mountain gorillas for gorilla habituation are not still undergoing habituation and thus human interference must be controlled. To get your gorilla habituation permit, kindly send us an email showing date, month, and year when you wish to come to Uganda for gorilla habituation experience. We will then contact the Uganda Wildlife Authority about the availability of permits. Should we get them, we will then reserve them on their system, send you an invoice to make payment. Once payment is made, we will go ahead and buy/secure your gorilla permits and of course send you scanned copies for your records. Once we have your permits, we will tailor your safari by suggesting Lodges in Rushaga, Nkuringo or Rubuguri plus your transport to and from the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.