Uganda Tour News

FRIEND-A-GORILLA CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

28th September, 2009 - Posted by admin - No Comments

Friend-a-Gorilla campaign has been launched with millions of internet users around the world able to track the endangered mountain gorillas with a click of a mouse on a computer.

This was during the launch of the website: www.friendagorilla.org, during a dinner at Serena Hotel in Kampala. Gorillas are one of the major attractions in Uganda, with Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south-western Uganda, being home to half of the world’s remaining Mountain Gorillas.

The website has sections like geo-tracking, where one can track gorillas using the Global Positioning System co-ordinates the gorilla trackers will be provided with regularly. Every subscriber to the website pays one dollar.

The launch was attended by several dignitaries including The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, acting British High Commissioner Philip Mani, Belgian ambassador Mare Gerdop, and Uganda Wildlife director Moses. A total of six Hollywood stars also arrived in the country and trekked Bwindi, days prior to the website launch. The stars included Jason Matthew Biggs (American Pie), Kristyn Wu (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Melissa Wu (Flight 29 Down). With them were Simon Curtis, Rachel McDonald, Matthew Kurte and Tertius Bune. These pledged to be ambassadors of mountain gorillas in the US.

Conservation has increased the population of mountain gorillas to about 720 up from 220 in the early 1970s. Mountain gorillas, apart from Uganda, are only found in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

By Jackie Kisibo
Uganda tourism News