UWA Advises Rwanda to Address “Push Factors” as Gorilla Family Migrates to Uganda.
Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has confirmed a recent arrival of a gorilla family into Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park.
The family of about 20 gorillas according to UWA spokesman Bashir Hangi, has been in Uganda over the past few weeks.
While Rwandan media reported that the gorillas were part of the Hirwa family from the Volcanoes National Park in Northern Rwanda, Mr Hangi said UWA was still trying to confirm the actual origin of the group.
“What I can confirm to you is that we have a gorilla group that is in the country, but we can’t tell yet whether it came from Rwanda or DRC. We have also not been approached by any of the countries” he said .
Mr Hangi added that while this isn’t the first migration of its kind to Uganda, such movements are not a common occurrence.
He says migrations like this follow certain factors, which need to the addressed by the respective countries.
“What is more important here is to address the push factors. What pushes a gorilla family to run away? If my gorilla group disappears I need to find out why it disappeared,” he said.
According to the Rwandan Volcanoes National park, the Hirwa (Rwandan for ‘lucky one’) family is among the most liked by trekkers and one of the most trekked groups.
