VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Rwanda — Deep in Rwanda’s steep-sloped forest, the mountain gorillas look both endearing and intimidating. A tourist might feel conflicting impulses to shy away and reach for a hug (the latter is not advised) when a gorilla brushes past on a path. The way a gorilla snoozes, scratches a leg or casts an inquiring glance — it all seems familiar, and yet wild.
“You can’t tell what they’re thinking,” said John Scott, a retired chemical engineer from Britain’s Worcester area who trekked to the high-altitude habitat to see the creatures with close genetic links to humans.
This sense of kinship helps explain why increasing numbers of tourists are heading to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, fueling an industry seen as key to the welfare of the critically endangered subspecies as well as the national economy. Those visitors can also be a threat because gorillas are vulnerable to human diseases and so reduced in numbers that a veterinary team called Gorilla Doctors cares for sick and injured apes.
The mountain gorilla population dropped sharply in the last century because of poaching, illness and human encroachment, although the numbers are now rising. These days, an estimated 900 mountain gorillas live in Rwanda and neighboring Congo and Uganda.