Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is surrounded by one of the highest human population densities in Africa of 200 to 300 people per square kilometre. Typically Bwindi forest is not surrounded by a buffer zone, and many parts of Bwindi are characterised by fragmented forest patches, surrounded by human habitation, where gorillas don’t know the boundaries. As a result there is human and gorilla conflict. Various measures have been taken to reduce this conflict including empowering the community through training of a Human and Gorilla Conflict Resolution (HUGO) volunteer team to chase gorillas back to the park, an initiative of Uganda Wildlife Authority supported by International Gorilla Conservation Programme.
In August 2009, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) held gorilla health monitoring training workshops with 90 HUGO members who play a very important role in helping to prevent disease transmission between people and gorillas, as gorillas are most likely to pick up diseases from humans and livestock when foraging in people’s gardens. The HUGO members reported that a few of them had sent in fecal samples following two previous introductory gorilla health monitoring workshops by CTPH in the past three years. We asked them to identify the samples that they sent in so we that we could differentiate them from the samples brought in by park rangers, and be able to measure their level of effort in this very important activity.
Shortly after the workshop it was very nice to see that the HUGO members are now sending even more samples than the park staff. This is also a reflection of how often the gorillas leave the park and come into close proximity with people. The gorilla fecal samples collected by HUGO members are being compared with those collected by park trackers when the gorillas are inside the park. Healthy gorillas mean sustainable ecotourism and livelihoods for the communities of Bwindi.
These HUGO training workshops have been funded by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation and the Whitley Award supported by World Wildlife Fund and Whitley Fund For Nature.
In August 2009, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) held gorilla health monitoring training workshops with 90 HUGO members who play a very important role in helping to prevent disease transmission between people and gorillas, as gorillas are most likely to pick up diseases from humans and livestock when foraging in people’s gardens. The HUGO members reported that a few of them had sent in fecal samples following two previous introductory gorilla health monitoring workshops by CTPH in the past three years. We asked them to identify the samples that they sent in so we that we could differentiate them from the samples brought in by park rangers, and be able to measure their level of effort in this very important activity.
Shortly after the workshop it was very nice to see that the HUGO members are now sending even more samples than the park staff. This is also a reflection of how often the gorillas leave the park and come into close proximity with people. The gorilla fecal samples collected by HUGO members are being compared with those collected by park trackers when the gorillas are inside the park. Healthy gorillas mean sustainable ecotourism and livelihoods for the communities of Bwindi.
These HUGO training workshops have been funded by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation and the Whitley Award supported by World Wildlife Fund and Whitley Fund For Nature.
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