From 1 July 2020, the cost of gorilla tracking in Uganda will increase from US$600 (R9,100) to US$700 (R10,617). The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) attributes the price increase to the pressure to provide gorilla-taking permits to more people.
In a statement, UWA said that they have been, ‘under immense pressure to provide gorilla permits for tracking.’ The UWA has increased the number of gorilla families for tracking from 15 to 17 following the successful habituation of Katwe group in Buhoma and Christmas group in Nkuringo, to help with the amounting pressure.
Each of the 17 gorilla families have eight people visiting daily, allowing an availability of 136 permits per day.
The money earned from the increase will allow UWA to invest more into protecting the gorillas and to improve the standards of living for people in nearby areas to the gorilla national parks.
The Pearl of Africa has ten national parks that showcase the beauty of the country. From tropical forests, savanna plains, mountainous terrain and the Great Rift Valley, it’s no wonder the country has become increasingly popular over recent years.
According to Uganda Safari, the decision to increase the tariff was brought on by Rawanda’s move of double tits tariff in May 2017, from US$750 (R11,392) to US$1,500 (R22,784).
In Rawanda, buying a permit and seeing a gorilla in the allocated time period is not guaranteed. In the Volcanoes National Park, there are 10 gorilla families in an area of 160 square kilometers.
Also read: Finding gorillas in Rwanda.
According to the African Wildlife Trust, the mountain gorilla is listed as a critically endangered species.
Uganda has over 50% of the world’s mountain gorilla population. Gorilla tracking is a major drive for foreign tourism. With an increase in demand of tourists wanting to visit the gorillas, an increased tariff could be beneficial to Uganda’s GDP through foreign income.
Image source: Unsplash
