{"id":2000124337,"date":"2026-08-31T16:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000124337"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:23:54","slug":"mountain-gorilla-trekking-in-rwanda-ranked-worlds-top-wildlife-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/mountain-gorilla-trekking-in-rwanda-ranked-worlds-top-wildlife-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda ranked world\u2019s top wildlife experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The experience topped the Wildlife Experience Index with a score of 90 out of 100, ahead of emperor penguin expeditions in Antarctica and saiga antelope expeditions in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index ranked 30 of the world\u2019s most remarkable wildlife experiences, focusing on encounters where travellers can see animals in their natural habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildlife encounters of this kind have become a major attraction for travellers, with safaris and other experiences involving wild animals featuring prominently on many travel bucket lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Africa\u2019s Big Five; lions, elephants, leopards, rhinoceroses and buffaloes, often dominate wildlife tourism, the index highlights a much wider range of experiences, from tracking black rhinos in Namibia to searching for elusive snow leopards in the Himalayas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bailey Robinson evaluated each experience across six factors: rarity, remoteness, conservation importance, exclusivity, accessibility and encounter potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rarity was assessed based on population numbers and how difficult it is to encounter a species in the wild. Remoteness considered how far an experience is from tourism infrastructure, while conservation importance was informed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index also assessed exclusivity based on access restrictions and visitor limitations, accessibility based on how easy it is to reach the destination, and encounter potential based on known opportunities to observe the animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each factor was scored out of 10 before being combined to produce an overall score out of 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why mountain gorilla trekking came first<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda or Uganda received the highest overall score, helped by a perfect 10 out of 10 for encounter potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bailey Robinson, expert trackers play an important role in helping visitors find the gorillas they have travelled to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rwanda, gorilla trekking takes place in Volcanoes National Park, where visitors hike through the mountain forests in small groups to find habituated gorilla families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 96 permits are issued each day in Rwanda, making the experience highly exclusive while also limiting the number of people who interact with the gorillas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visitor limits are intended to reduce disturbance to the gorillas while allowing people to experience them in their natural environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gorilla tourism also contributes to conservation and supports communities living around the protected areas. Revenue generated through tourism helps support the protection of gorillas and their habitats, while surrounding communities benefit from tourism-related activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other top wildlife experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antarctica\u2019s emperor penguin expeditions ranked second with 88.5 points, receiving 10 out of 10 for both remoteness and exclusivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazakhstan\u2019s saiga antelope expeditions ranked third with 87 points, followed by snow leopard tracking in Ladakh or the Himalayas with 85.5 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Javan rhino tracking in Indonesia came fifth with 85 points, while black rhino tracking in Namibia or Kenya ranked sixth with 84.5 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polar bear expeditions in Svalbard and Bornean orangutan encounters ranked seventh and eighth respectively, both scoring 84 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern lowland gorilla expeditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ranked ninth with 81.5 points, while African wild dog safaris in Botswana or Tanzania completed the top 10 with 81 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight of the top 10 experiences involved threatened species, while Asia and Africa accounted for most of the destinations featured in the ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Parker, sales director at Bailey Robinson, said the relationship between rarity and remoteness was one of the key findings from the analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat particularly stood out to us was the relationship between rarity and remoteness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world’s most extraordinary wildlife encounters tend to involve travelling further, going deeper into wilderness and experiencing something that very few travellers will ever have the opportunity to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that responsible travel and support for conservation projects were central to the value of such experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor us, the real luxury is the opportunity to experience something rare and meaningful, while travelling responsibly and supporting the places and conservation projects that make these encounters possible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Rwanda\u2019s mountain gorillas continue to draw wildlife enthusiasts from around the world to Volcanoes National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mountain gorillas in Rwanda offer visitors a rare chance to observe one of the world\u2019s most remarkable wildlife species in its natural habitat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda has been ranked the world\u2019s best wildlife experience in a new index by British travel company Bailey Robinson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000124338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[151,70],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000124337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-editors-choice","tag-main-home-ighlight","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":2000122455,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.50.01-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.50.01 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":2000122455,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.50.01-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.50.01 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":{"id":2000124338,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/gorilla-family-184ce.webp","alt":"","caption":"Mountain gorillas in Rwanda offer visitors a rare chance to observe one of the world\u2019s most remarkable wildlife species in its natural habitat.","mime_type":"image\/webp","width":1000,"height":685,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/gorilla-family-184ce.webp","width":1000,"height":685},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/gorilla-family-184ce.webp","width":1000,"height":685},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/gorilla-family-184ce.webp","width":1000,"height":685},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/gorilla-family-184ce.webp","width":1000,"height":685},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/gorilla-family-184ce.webp","width":1000,"height":685}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000124337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000124337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000124337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000124340,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000124337\/revisions\/2000124340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000124338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000124337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000124337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000124337"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000124337"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000124337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}