A new census of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) mountain gorilla population is set for September this year according to Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Periodic censuses of endangered populations of high-profile species including gorillas help conservationists to understand their population dynamics assess the success of conservation programmes aimed at ensuring their survival, and to ensure that they receive continued attention from the global conservation community.

This planned census comes on the heels of a recent one in the Greater Virunga massif whose results were launched in Rwanda’s Musanze- Ruhengeri on 28th March 2011. The massif included Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Virunga National Park in DR Congo and the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
According to Mr. Pontious Ezuma,the acting Conservation Area Manager (CAM)Bwindi-Mgahinga Conservation Area(BMCA) the September 2011,will be the 4th gorilla census in the history of Bwindi, the previous ones  having been conducted in 2006, 2002 and 1997. All other censuses before have taken place in a duration spacing of five years apart.
This census is aimed at estimating the current gorilla numbers of Uganda’s BINP, document information on illegal activities, the gorillas distribution and compile information on other mammals in the ecosystem.

The organizations involved in the planning and eventual implementation of the activity include the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA),the International Gorilla Conservation Program(IGCP),Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation(ITFC),the Greater Virunga Trans boundary Collaborative Secretariat (GTVCS) among others.
The method of use in this census will be the sweep method as well as fecal samples collected for generic analysis.  In the sweep method, teams traverse each marked sector of the park in a zigzag manner. They look for fresh gorilla trails till their nests are found and counted.  The estimates are made based on nests encountered in the due course of the census. The estimates are made based on nests encountered in the due course of the census. In great apes mammals, research has proven that the sweeping has been the most efficient method to date unlike the transect,experts assert.

In a preparatory census meeting of the stakeholders recently in Kabale, UWA’s Senior Monitoring and Research co-coordinator, Mr. Aggrey Rwesiba stated how important this exercise is to Uganda Wildlife Authority. He noted that the census provided vital information for establishing best management strategies that could be applied at both local and global scales to conserve the mountain Gorilla population. He accordingly  stressed that the census was an important index for the different stakeholders on the effectiveness of their work towards conserving the mountain gorillas.

Unlike other censuses done before in Bwindi, generic analysis where the fecal samples will be analyzed to minimize error and ascertain more accurate figures of the gorillas. It is estimated that a distance of not less than 600km will be covered by various teams to be involved in the census around the entire. Many staff from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has already committed themselves to be part of this historical event of counting gorillas and preparation are in a high notch. The vegetation and terrain of Bwindi forest make it uniquely different from that Virungas. This makes the census more challenging as well as exciting, something to look forward to.

The Conservation Area Manager of Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area, Mr. Pontius Ezuma has committed resources such as standby vehicles for the field teams and security all through the census exercise. In his own admission, he expects a rigorous time ahead thus the need to adequately prepare since the exercise has to be accommodated with many routine activities in park.
In the census carried out in Bwindi population in was carried out in 2002,  results showed that the population had increased since the previous census in 1997 by approximately 7%, to 320 individuals according to McNeilage and others 2006 while the Virunga population currently numbers around 380 gorillas . Another census of the Bwindi gorilla population was carried out between April and June 2006 to determine the population’s total size and structure, its distribution across Bwindi, and the potential impact of human disturbance on the population.
The results at the time showed show that the 5 habituated groups in Bwindi contained a total of 76 individuals at the time of the census. In addition to these, 25 unhabituated groups were found, containing 227 individuals along with 11 lone silverback males, giving a total uncorrected population count of 314 individuals.