Gorilla
Defender
THANKS TO YOU, ALL 160 HUGO VOLUNTEERS PROTECTING BWINDI’S MOUNTAIN GORILLAS ARE NOW FULLY EQUIPPED. PHASES 1 AND 2 ARE COMPLETE. And it is working!
Wonderful news. And an urgent new plea.
First, the news. You did it. Two years ago, we asked you to help equip the HUGO volunteers – the local heroes who peacefully protect Bwindi’s mountain gorillas. Phase 1 raised around £15,000 and equipped half of them. Last year, Phase 2 equipped the rest.
Today, every one of the 160 HUGO volunteers has the kit they need, handed over in person with the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
No one else is doing this. Just Viva! It is a collaboration between Viva! UK and Viva! Uganda, made possible entirely by you.
Now the volunteers have asked us for one more thing – and the gorillas’ own trackers desperately need our help too. We are launching Phases 3 and 4: training every HUGO volunteer and equipping the trackers.
We need to raise £27,500. Will you donate and be a Gorilla Defender?
I joined HUGO to stop the locals from hunting and killing the gorillas. It upset me because gorillas have a life too. They are very like us and intelligent and sensitive. They move around as families. I felt pity. Viva! has shown we are appreciated and helped us protect gorillas. I am excited to have training. I hope you can make it happen.”
Nathan Tinyi, Secretary of HUGO
Why Bwindi is everything
In the 1980s, just 250 mountain gorillas remained on Earth. Poaching, war and the flattening of their forests almost wiped them out. Today, their numbers have slowly climbed to just over 1,000, but they remain seriously endangered. With such a tiny population, even one death is a huge loss.
Mountain gorillas survive in only two places on Earth. They cannot survive outside of the wild. There is no back-up population and no second chance. None.
Uganda is home to almost half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, and most live in one ancient, mist-wrapped rainforest: Bwindi. Protect Bwindi and its gorillas and we protect the species.
1,000+
mountain gorillas remain
Nearly 50%
live in Uganda
2 places
on Earth support them
The people standing between them and disaster
Bwindi is one of the most densely settled regions in Uganda. Farms press right up against the forest edge, and gorillas wander out of the trees and into banana plantations and other crops. For a poor farming family, that can mean months of food gone in a morning. For the gorillas, it can mean fear, retaliation and death.
That is where HUGO – Human Gorilla Conflict Resolution – comes in. Local volunteers from the villages bordering the forest peacefully guide the gorillas back home. No violence. No harm.
90%
HUGO peacefully resolve around 90 per cent of gorilla incursions. It is the only approach that truly works.
They are also turning poachers into anti-poachers, running poacher reform groups in Bwindi villages.
Volunteers sacrifice a lot for the gorillas and do an incredible job. We are very grateful to Viva! and don’t take this equipment for granted. We want to thank you, Viva!, and all your supporters for making this happen.”
Joshua Masereka, Warden of Community Conservation, Uganda Wildlife Authority
The next urgent step
Phases 3 and 4
Phase 3
Train the protectors
In all their years guarding Bwindi’s gorillas, the HUGO volunteers have never once received formal training. Not a single session. Everything they know has been learned by trial and error, standing between wild silverbacks and frightened farmers.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority has asked Viva! to make professional training happen.
Phase 3 delivers a full week of professional training to all 160 volunteers across the Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Mgahinga sectors, taught in local languages.
- Safe, humane gorilla deterrence
- Rapid response planning and safety protocols
- Community engagement, including poachers, women, youth and the Batwa
- Low-cost prevention, including buffer crops and early warning systems
- Monitoring and reporting linked to Uganda Wildlife Authority systems
Every team leaves with a concrete action plan, a mentor and follow-up visits at one, three and six months. This is a lasting upgrade to the entire frontline of mountain gorilla protection.
Phase 4
Equip the trackers
Every morning, 90 trackers walk into the forest to find each gorilla family and check on every member. Is anyone missing? Injured? Caught in a snare? When a gorilla is in trouble, the trackers know first.
When a family heads for the farms, they raise the alarm so HUGO can respond. Nothing in gorilla protection works without them.
Yet they face freezing mountain nights, hard tropical rain and malarial mosquitoes with next to nothing.
- Warm jackets and gumboots
- Torches, backpacks and water bottles
- Lunch boxes
- Mobile phones and power banks
An injured gorilla found at 7am and reported at 7.05am can be saved. One reported that evening may not.
100% directly used
What your gift buys
Phases 3 and 4 together: £27,500
All money will be used directly to deliver the training and buy the equipment. As before, we will hand it over in person.
In their own words
The people your donations reached
In April, our Viva! Uganda team sat down with the HUGO volunteers at Bwindi.
I joined HUGO because the gorillas ate a lot of my banana plantation. This was very difficult for me and my family. I joined HUGO to prevent the gorillas from destroying my plantation. We can live in harmony together. I am so glad to receive equipment to peacefully help the gorillas back to their home. I would be most grateful to receive training to be a good HUGO.”
Christopher Sunday
I joined HUGO because the locals used to hunt and kill mountain gorillas. HUGO sensitises villagers so they understand that gorillas also have families and value their life like us. I was also worried that if the locals kept killing the gorillas, our great-grandchildren won’t be able to see them. Thank you, Viva!, for being the only organisation that has given us equipment so we can do our work for saving gorillas.”
Bernard Byanaku, Chairman of HUGO
The coat and rain gear you gave me has made being a HUGO volunteer so much better. Viva! people are incredible. I have heard you will now organise training and equip the trackers. This makes me happy.”
Benon Byamugisha Mzeeim
They are our wild cousins. Their survival depends on humans doing the right thing.
Christopher asked for training. Nathan asked for training. The trackers need equipment that could mean the difference between life and death.
Please, please be a Gorilla Defender.
Yours for the animals
Juliet Gellatley
Founder and Director
PS Just over 1,000 mountain gorillas remain, and almost half live in Uganda. £27,500 trains their protectors and equips their trackers. Thank you for getting them this far. Please help us finish the job.