Gorilla Safaris

Are you planning to take the bespoke gorilla safaris in Democratic Republic of Congo? Here we help you to find the best Congo gorilla destinations where you can do gorilla trek. The most park to visit to experience gorilla tours you can visit the Virunga National Park where you find the mountain gorillas and thereafter visit to the Kahuzi Biega National Park where you find the Eastern Lowland gorillas.

The Virunga National Park, DR Congo

The Virunga National Park is formerly named Albert National Park, is a 7,800 km2 (3,000 sq mi) National Park that stretches from the Virunga Mountains in the south to the Rwenzori Mountains in the north, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori Mountains National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.

The park was established in 1925 as Africa’s first national park and has been a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site since 1979. In recent years, poaching and the Congo Civil War have seriously damaged its wildlife population. The park is managed by the Congolese National Park Authorities, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), and its partner, the Virunga Foundation, formerly known as the Africa Conservation Fund (UK). The current park director, since 2008, is the Belgian Prince Emmanuel de Merode.

Biodiversity

The park is known for its exceptional biodiversity, containing more bird, mammal and reptile species than any protected area on the continent of Africa. Although mountain gorillas are now extremely rare and listed as one of the most critically endangered species, successful conservation work has helped to secure the remaining populations. Their populations actually grew during the years of political upheaval in the region (1994–2004), and have continued to do so even throughout the difficult period of 2007-2008. The 2010 mountain gorilla census has indicated that the conservation efforts of Virunga have been very successful.

Both savannah and forest elephants, as well as chimpanzees and low land gorillas, can still be found in Virunga, along with okapi, giraffes, African buffaloes, and many endemic birds. The neighboring Mount Hoyo area was managed with the park and is home to a population of Bambuti pygmy people, as well as many caves and waterfalls. Together with the adjacent Queen Elizabeth National Park, it forms a Lion Conservation Unit. The area is considered a potential lion stronghold in Central Africa, if poaching is curbed and prey species recover.

Kahuzi-Biéga National Park

The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is a protected area near Bukavu town in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is situated near the western bank of Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border. Established in 1970 by the Belgian photographer and conservationist Adrien Deschryver, the park is named after two dormant volcanoes, Mount Kahuzi and Mount Biega (fr), which are within its limits. With an area of 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi), Kahuzi-Biega is one of the biggest national parks in the country. Set in both mountainous and lowland terrain, it is one of the last refuges of the rare species of Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), an endangered category under the IUCN Red List. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1980 for its unique biodiversity of rain forest habitat and its eastern lowland gorillas.