It was truly a privilege to photograph mountain gorillas within the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. The world population of mountain gorillas is very small with less than 900 remaining, although the number has increased from around only 250 in the 1980s. About half of the gorillas live in the forest at Bwindi with the remainder spread throughout the Virunga volcanic mountains of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The population in Bwindi has been subject to conservation since 1991 and it is possible to visit three groups of gorillas which have been habituated - the remainder are wild and off-limits. After a trek of an hour or more through the forest, which rightly lives up to its name of being impenetrable, one is able to spend an hour viewing the gorillas in close proximity. Although gorillas may have a reputation as being fearsome animals, they are actually quite gentle in nature and very humanlike in their behaviour, mannerisms and interactions with each other.

For more information about Bwindi Impenetrable National Park click here.