Uganda Wildlife Authority has been under immense pressure to provide gorilla permits for
tracking. We would like to inform the public that there are gorilla reservation guidelines
that we still follow. Unfortunately, many who would like to book a permit have not used
them. In our endeavour to enforce the guidelines, we have been misunderstood to have
introduced new measures and some concerns have been raised by various stakeholders.
This is therefore to clarify as follows:
1. We have received overwhelming demand for gorilla permits during the past 3 months.
On many occasion, our visitors travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for gorilla
tracking without a confirmation that they will get a permit and end up placing a lot of
pressure on us to provide permits even when there is none.
2. In order to address this need, we have increased the number of gorilla families for
tracking from 15 to 17, following the successful habituation of Katwe group in Buhoma
and Christmas group in Nkuringo. Visitors can book tracking of these families through
the UWA reservations office at Headquarters.
3. To minimize the risks associated with handling cash, Tour Operators are discouraged
from carrying cash and making on spot reservations. This will be authorised in limited
and exceptional cases. More importantly however is the possibility of finding when
permits are sold out and all of us being under pressure to provide a permit to visitors
who have travelled long distances to see a mountain gorilla.
4. Tour Operators and individuals who had already booked through Bwindi and Mgahinga
should pay at headquarters and continue to track. Though payment on day of tracking
is possible but discouraged. New bookings should be directed through Reservations
Office at Headquarters on [email protected] and +256 414 355
403/404/405/409/410.
5. Tour operators are requested to always liaise with our reservations office before
travelling to the parks to avoid being turned away due to unavailability of permits.
6. UWA is working on developing an improved full cashless system for payment of permits
and other services we offer. Once this is concluded in the next few months, the public
will be informed.
Our stakeholders are requested to cooperate with us in implementing these measures for
the good of the industry as we Conserve for Generations.
MANAGEMENT