Updated
Mountain gorillas are rarely hunted for meat or the pet trade in Uganda today, but poaching has not gone away. The main danger comes from snares set for duikers and bushpigs, and occasionally from conflict on the forest edge. In June 2020, Rafiki, the silverback of Bwindi’s Nkuringo group, was killed by a poacher’s spear. Here is how Uganda’s rangers protect gorillas, and why the work never finishes.
The threat today
Most poaching in and around Bwindi and Mgahinga is aimed at small antelope and wild pigs for bushmeat. Wire snares are cheap, invisible in the undergrowth and indiscriminate. A gorilla that puts a hand or foot into one can lose fingers or a limb, and infants can die. Gorillas are not usually the target, but they pay the price. Illegal entry for firewood, honey, bamboo and medicinal plants also brings people into gorilla areas, raising the risk of disease transmission and confrontation.
The death of Rafiki
Rafiki was the dominant silverback of the Nkuringo family, one of the families visited from Bwindi’s southern sector. He disappeared on 1 June 2020, and his body was found the next day with spear wounds. A man from a nearby village was arrested and admitted entering the park to hunt small animals with others. He said Rafiki attacked them and he speared the gorilla in self-defence. He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The case, during the COVID-19 lockdown when tourism had stopped, showed how quickly protection weakens when visitors and income disappear.
How rangers protect the gorillas
Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers patrol the parks on foot, removing snares, recording illegal activity and responding to reports from communities. Patrol routes and findings are logged with ranger-monitoring software, so effort can be focused where snares are found. Trackers visit each habituated family every day, which means injured gorillas are noticed quickly and reported to Gorilla Doctors. Vets have treated many snare wounds over the years. Read the story of a snared Bwindi gorilla treated by vets. Unhabituated gorillas are harder to protect because nobody sees them daily.
Why communities matter as much as patrols
Patrols alone cannot protect a forest surrounded by some of Uganda’s most densely farmed land. Permit income funds park management, and a share of it, US$10 from every gorilla permit, goes to the communities around the park through revenue sharing. Jobs as porters, guides, lodge staff and craft sellers give people a reason to value living gorillas. Programmes that help farmers deal with crop raiding, and former poachers who now work in conservation, matter just as much as patrols. See gorilla tourism and local communities and how permit revenue is spent.
Learn more
For the wider picture, read about anti-poaching work in Uganda and how Bwindi’s gorillas are monitored.
Frequently asked questions
They are rarely targeted, but snares set for other animals injure gorillas, and Rafiki of the Nkuringo group was killed by a poacher in 2020.
Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers and trackers, supported by Gorilla Doctors vets and community conservation programmes.
Rafiki, leader of the Nkuringo group, was speared by a poacher in June 2020; the man was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Permit revenue funds rangers and gives US$10 per permit to local communities, making living gorillas more valuable than poaching.
