Gorilla tracking rules and regulations; the lives of mountain gorillas in the wild still remain at high risk and like humans, their safety in their natural habitat is essential. Every trekker is required to know the set of safety measures or guidelines before embarking on a trek to view endangered which presently account not more than 1063 in the wild, 459 of which live in Uganda.

The idea behind observing the dos and don’ts/gorilla tracking rules is to ensure your visit to see these great apes in the wild shouldn’t lead to decrease on their population. Note, mountain gorillas exist only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To be part of magical encounter with habituated mountain gorillas in the wild, below are some of set gorilla tracking rules and regulations to guide you.

• After briefing early in the morning, only 1 (one) habituated gorilla family will be allocated to you to track in a group of 8 visitors. This gorilla tracking rule applies to all mountain gorilla safari parks in Uganda (Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park), Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (the Virunga National Park). This measure is aimed at minimizing any likely changes in their daily behavior and exposing them to communicable diseases.
• Use of flashlight cameras isn’t allowed on gorilla trek in Uganda, DR Congo or Uganda. Flashlight can easily make gorillas irritated or aggressive which at end may cause harm to you. In any case, please make sure you turn off your flashlight before taking photos of these apes.
• Persons above age bracket of 15 years are considered eligible to trek mountain gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC. Those below 15 are regarded as children and they are prone to most communicable diseases like measles, flu or cough which can easily spread to gorillas.
• When approaching a family of gorillas, your park ranger guide will remind you to always maintain a distance of 7m. This also applies whether they come close to you or not. Observing this gorilla rule helps protect them from infectious human diseases.
• After a long trek and finally you come across a gorilla group, a maximum of only 1 hour will be allowed for you to spend with these primates, to take pictures and have an in-depth exploration about their daily behavior.
• Direct eye contact with gorillas isn’t allowed and please, never attempt to run away as this may put you into higher risk.
• While it is advised to carry some snacks and bottled drinking water, do not eat or drink in the presence of mountain gorillas. Like humans, this is a very tempting behavior for these apes as they may be forced to grab anything from your hands.
• Humans are considered foreigners in the habitat of these great apes and therefore, some may charge against you. However, it is important to observe the park ranger’s instructions and essentially, stand still-don’t run.
• Trekking to view mountain gorillas involves winding through the tropical rain-forest and given the nature of habitat, it is important to always keep within your group you left with after briefing at the park headquarters. If you break away, you will be putting yourself at a risk and you may meet wild gorillas or even other dangerous when you can’t defend yourself. An armed ranger guide will be assigned a group to take through a search for these apes.
• In case you need to help yourself, make sure you burry your entire human wastes as instructed by the park ranger guide-at least 30 meters deep.
• If you feel like coughing, cover your mouth and in case of sneezing, cover yourself nose to avoid spreading infectious diseases to these endangered species.
• It is important to always keep your voices low but in case of any questions, please be open and ask as many as possible.
• No matter the quantity of items you carry on a trek to see mountain gorillas, make sure you get back with all your used items or not used and Leave the habitat of these creatures as clean as possible or in a better state than you got it.