This time ended in July 1999 when the Virunga Volcanoes National Park was reopened. Any effort to bring monies back into the parks would have to include efforts to bring back tourism. More money would then be available to increase security and to prevent any loss of life in the gorilla population. Each gorilla death is viewed to be especially horrific because each gorilla carries an essential part of the population's future. The gorillas' genetic diversity is very restricted because of the small numbers of the divided populations.
Every death takes away an additional portion of the diminished gene pool.
When this happens, the gorillas chance for survival decreases with the decrease in genetic variation. The greatest threat to a gorilla's life is now disease. With the increase of tourism, disease occurrence has risen because tourists bring bacteria and viruses into the forest by means of their fecal matter. These foreign invaders could have a tremendous negative impact on the gorillas. These diseases could also have an influence on the chimpanzee, an endangered animal that lives in the same environment as the gorilla.