Rwanda is well known for its mountain gorillas. First brought to international attention by the conservation efforts of Dian Fossey in the 1960s and 70s, Rwanda’s gorillas have featured in numerous documentaries and have in the recent past been visited, for example, by Bill Gates, Natalie Portman and Ted Turner, who have all participated in the annual gorilla naming ceremony. Rwanda and Uganda are the only two countries in the world where mountain gorillas can be visited safely at the moment. In 2008, about 17,000 people visited the Volcanoes National Park (VNP) to see the gorillas,http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif a large increase from the late 1980s and an impressive recovery from only 417 tourists in 1999 after the reopening of the park. Rwanda has also seen gorilla tourism as a valuable conservation tool, enforcing strict rules for the habituation and trekking of gorilla families. Tourists are willing to pay high fees for a limited number of permits, which are usually sold o...
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