Tara Stoinski

But there's a lot of factors that have gone into that conservation success, but part of it is definitely tourism because that money helps fund the park.

And it also is shared with the human communities that live adjacent to the park.

So they understand the value of- They're incentivized to keep them.

For sure.

The challenge with tourism is, you know, it needs to be done responsibly and well, particularly because these animals are super sensitive to the same illnesses that we have.

So we have to make sure we're not bringing in anything to them, which is why each family is only visited for one hour a day by a maximum of eight people.

And you're supposed to wear a mask when you're with them as well.

Yeah, that's new.

That's since COVID.

Yeah, I would say that more often than not, the rules are broken on getting too close to them.

But it's not the people's fault.

It's the gorilla's fault.

Because a lot of times you can't move.

You're stuck.

And the guides are really good at telling you, like, don't move.

Let them.

They're just going to pass by.

They'll only be here for a second.

Because if you move or you startle them, that's when they might get a little bit nervous.

I think they also like to put us in our place.