Uganda’s Gorilla tourism started in 1993. Concerns about disease transmission from humans to the great apes were quickly raised. In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the first scabies outbreak in 1996 resulted in the death of an infant gorilla. The disease was traced back to people, in this case to the local communities living around the National Park.

Mountain gorillas are endangered, with only 1,063 individuals remaining in the wild. Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) was founded by Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, with the mission to promote biodiversity conservation by enabling people, gorillas and other wildlife to coexist through improving their health and livelihoods in and around Africa’s protected areas.

CTPH has extensive experience implementing One Health approach in protected area management, and we are committed to sharing our lessons learned and recommendations with other countries facing similar issues.