Mountain Gorilla Trekking Habituation Experience is an act of training wild mountain gorillas to become used to the sight of humans. It consists of different groups of people, such as conservationists, tourists, researchers, and rangers, who monitor and learn about the behavior of these giant apes closely. Click here to see mountain gorilla trekking safaris

Mountain gorilla habituation experience was just recently presented on a small scale by the Uganda Wildlife Authority as a stable tourism activity. The gorilla habituation experience restricts the number of travelers to a maximum of 4 people per day; thus, bookings for this mountain gorilla habituation should be made prior to the travel date. Click here to see our recommended mountain gorilla trekking tour 

Mountain gorilla experience limits one’s interaction with the giant apes since travelers only spend an hour with mountain gorillas, while mountain Gorilla Habituation allows travelers to spend four hours with mountain gorillas as they learn, study, and monitor everything that mountain gorillas do, such as how they feed their offspring, how they play, and how they move.

A mountain gorilla habituation experience does not exist in Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a mountain gorilla habituation encounter is only done in Uganda at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.

Uganda habituates about 21 mountain gorilla groups that can be ready to be visited by travelers, such groups include, Mishaya gorilla group, Bweza gorilla group, Nshongi gorilla group, Kahungye gorilla group, and Busingye gorilla group, these groups can found in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, Mubare gorilla group, Habinyanja gorilla group, and  Rushegura gorilla group which are located in Buhoma sector, North of the park, Nkuringo gorilla group, Oruzogo, Kyaguriro, and Bitukura Gorilla groups.

However, with all these mountain gorilla groups in Rushaga sector are set aside and available for gorilla habituation experiences. During the mountain gorilla habituation process, travelers, conservationists, rangers, and researchers understand mountain gorillas deeper on an individual basis, know gorilla behaviors, and name them one by one. At the end of this experience, researchers can easily tell whether wild gorillas are okay in the presence of people, and a mock test is done in order to prove their facts.

The Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the only sector where tourists can take part in the gorilla habituation experience in Uganda. The gorilla habituation process involves training the wild mountain gorillas to live in the presence of human beings.

The gorilla habituation experience is operated by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and allows tourists to spend four hours with the mountain gorillas. The gorilla habituation experience offers a deeper understanding of mountain gorilla behavior and trekking, and more time to observe them and take wonderful photographs than on normal trekking.

The best time to see mountain gorillas in Uganda for a gorilla habituation experience is in the dry season, which occurs from June to August and again from December to February. During these months, there is less or no rainfall, making mountain gorilla trekking easier. However, tourists should expect showers at any time of year due to Uganda's equatorial type of climate.