Lack of Rule-Adherence During Mountain Gorilla Tourism Encounters in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, Places Gorillas at Risk From Human Disease

Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are an endangered primate species, with approximately 40% of the 1000 individuals that remain on the planet today residing in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) in southwestern Uganda. These primates are at the heart of a growing tourism industry that has incentivized their continued protection, but close proximity between humans and gorillas during such encounters presents well-documented risks for disease transmission. The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has developed rules to help protect the health of the gorillas, limiting each habituated gorilla group to a single 60 minute visit each day by a group of no more than 8 tourists, and emphasizing that humans maintain a >7 m distance from gorillas at all times. A number of studies have documented that not all tour groups respect these rules. This project assesses rule-adherence during gorilla tourism encounters at BINP using both observational and survey-based data collected during the tourism high season between May-August, 2014. Observational data from 53 treks reveal that groups of 2-10 tourists engaged in gorilla viewing encounters between 46-98 minutes in duration. Although 96% of pre-trek briefings conducted by park wardens emphasized the need to maintain > 7 m human-gorilla spacing, the 7 m distance rule was violated in over 98% (52 out of 53) of tours examined in this study. During the encounters, observational data were collected at two minute intervals, documenting the nearest distance between any tourist and a gorilla (n=1604), of which 1094 observations (68.2%) took place at a distance less than or equal to 7 m. Importantly, the 7 m rule was violated in visits to all of the gorilla groups habituated at the time of the study. In 224 observations, human-gorilla spacing was 3 m or less. Survey data (n=243) revealed promising opportunities to improve tourist understanding of and adherence to park rules, with 73.6% of respondents indicating that they would be willing to utilize a precautionary measure of wearing a facemask during encounters to protect gorilla health.