This is a mountain gorilla video, of a male silverback, made by Jacqueline de Groot from the Netherlands, in Uganda.
Census finds increase in critically endangered mountain gorilla population: here.
Gorilla conservation efforts are still being hampered by a number of factors that continuously endanger their habitats and life in general: here.
Humans Make Gorillas Sick: here.
New population of gorillas discovered in Cameroon: here.
April 2001. Two species of gorillas live in central equatorial Africa. Divergence between the Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and Eastern Gorillas (G. beringei) began between 0.9 and 1.6 million years ago and now the two species live several hundred kilometres apart. New research published by BioMed Central‘s open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows that the divergence of Western lowland gorillas and the Critically Endangered Cross River gorillas (G. g. diehli) occurred more recently, about 17,800 years ago, during the Pleistocene era: here.
June 2011. A unique piece of gorilla art is being auctioned by Paignton Zoo to raise money for international ape conservation. The Zoo – a registered charity – is selling a glass cast of the imprint of a gorilla hand: here.
INVESTORS in sport hunting in Uganda’s game parks have up to January next year to stop shooting wild animals for fun: here.
An artist just seven years old has produced paintings that have got people talking. Mainly because he’s a gorilla: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
From the USA:
Adult gorillas weigh a colossal 500 lbs and stand six feet tall, but they don’t eat meat. Instead, after they’ve eaten enough of the very tastiest plants they can find, they do what we do – play, hug, and laugh.
But right now these gentle giants are facing a three-fold struggle for existence: they are killed for their meat; their habitats are destroyed by logging, mining, agriculture, and other invasive activities; and infectious diseases ravage their families.
Today, the U.S. government funds vital programs that help alleviate these threats to gorillas. But the newly-released federal budget is promising deep cuts in these programs – putting the future of these animals and other threatened wildlife in even greater jeopardy.
Tell your members of Congress to rescue funding for these gorillas, before it’s too late.
These are just some of the critical international conservation programs that could be crippled if we don’t speak up now:
* The USAID Biodiversity and Sustainable Landscapes programs support the Central African Regional Partnership for the Environment (CARPE), which brings together seven central African countries to work together to find ways to protect forests that serve as vital gorilla habitats.
* The Great Ape Conservation Fund, part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, protects gorillas in the wild in Africa through support to anti-poaching, monitoring, and collaboration between conservation organizations, governments, and timber companies to stop illegal hunting and bushmeat sales.
* The Wildlife Without Borders program, which trains local wildlife managers on how to tackle issues as far-ranging as climate change, the bushmeat trade, infectious diseases, and local community development.
* Programs that enable the U.S. Forest Service to work with African land management agencies to promote sustainable forest management and slow the destruction of the rainforests.
We are facing an uphill battle today. Programs protecting the world’s wildlife and wild places amount to only a miniscule part of the overall federal budget. While we all recognize the need for responsible spending, skimming off funding for international conservation programs won’t solve our budget problems. But it will strike a devastating blow to species already on the brink of extinction.
Send a strong message to lawmakers: These animals are already endangered. Don’t rob us of our chance to save them with shortsighted cuts to international conservation.
The tight budget season makes an urgent situation for these critically endangered animals all the more dangerous – please, join our call to action today. Make sure Congress knows that conservation is a priority for their constituents.
Thank you for standing with us.
Sincerely,
Liz Bennett
Vice President, Species Conservation
Wildlife Conservation Society
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In 2007, WCS made an incredible discovery of 125,000 western lowland gorillas in the northern parts of the Republic of Congo.
In that single instant, the known population of gorillas worldwide doubled.
They had survived largely because the remote swamps and forests they called home were practically inaccessible. But roads and the poachers will find a way in – unless we permanently protect this pristine environment now.
We have been working with the Congolese government to establish Ntokou-Pikounda National Park to secure this last stronghold for Africa’s apes and we’re just months away from making it a reality, but first, we need your help!
Secure permanent protection for tens of thousands of gorillas by making a gift toward the establishment of this new park today.
Generous WCS donors, Ron and Christie Ulrich, have committed $80,000 to get the park up and running, but they’ve challenged us to raise the first $25,000 online from our supporters by March 28. Will you help?
Already, we’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and untold staff hours to protect this hidden gem, and now we’re just inches from making it a reality. But in order to get the park fully functional and ensure the gorillas are protected for generations, here’s what still needs to happen:
* Recruiting, training, equipping, and supporting ecoguard patrols that are responsible for park management, data collection, and wildlife protection;
* Clearly marking the boundaries of the park to make the protected area clear and put poachers on notice;
* Conducting more surveys in the area to monitor the gorilla populations frequently and identify and shut down poaching hotspots.
Without the ecoguards and park infrastructure, poaching could easily wipe out this population center of critically endangered gorillas. Creating this park is critical if we are to ensure a future for western lowland gorillas.
Help make the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park a reality.
We know what it takes to protect gorillas and have been a leader in identifying solutions for 50 years. Just look at Africa’s Greater Virunga landscape, where effective management has already doubled the population of mountain gorillas in the past 30 years.
And as the gorillas of Ntokou-Pikounda come under protection, so does the mosaic of other animal life that lives in the swamps, forests, and clearings of central Africa. Where gorillas thrive, so do elephants, chimpanzees, crocodiles, hippos, crowned eagles, and hornbills.
With your generous gift today, we can raise $25,000 to finalize legal protection of the park and secure the future of this extraordinary wilderness. Please, donate now.
Thank you for standing with us to protect these gentle giants.
Sincerely,
Liz Bennett
Vice President, Species Conservation
Wildlife Conservation Society
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Mountain gorilla population recovering
afrol News, 8 December – A new mountain gorilla census in Rwanda and Congo Kinshasa (DRC) shows a 26 percent increase in population of this endangered species during seven years. Mountain gorillas are among the region’s main tourist attractions.
The analysis of a census of mountain gorillas conducted in March and April 2010 indicates that there were a total of 480 mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei, in 36 groups along with 14 solitary silverback males in the Virunga Massif.
The surveyed area includes three contiguous national parks: Parc National des Virunga in DRC, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. The only other location where mountain gorillas exist is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
Along with the 302 mountain gorillas counted in Bwindi in 2006 and four orphaned mountain gorillas in a sanctuary in DRC, “this brings the total world population to a mere 786 individuals,” according to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).
But despite this low global total population, the AWF census provides good news. The last census undertaken in the Virunga Massif was in 2003, when the population was estimated at 380 individuals.
“The current figure represents a 26.3 percent increase in the population of mountain gorillas in this area over the last seven years, which is a 3.7 percent annual growth rate,” according to AWF. This increase in the population had occurred “despite the killing of no less than nine mountain gorillas, in four separate incidents, during this time period.”
“This population has made an absolutely remarkable recovery from the approximately 250 individuals that existed only three decades ago,” Augustin Basabose of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) told afrol News.
The recovery was “due to the relentless collaborative efforts of many organisations and institutions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwa
Christopher Masaba, with the Uganda Wildlife Authority assists with the mountain gorilla census
Christopher Masaba, with the Uganda Wildlife Authority assists with the mountain gorilla census
© IGCP/afrol News
nda and Uganda,” added Dr Basabose.
The census itself was a major exercise. Over 1,000 kilometres were systematically walked by 6 mixed teams of 72 people from DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda. The teams covered the entire range and meticulously documented fresh signs of mountain gorilla groups. Genetic analysis of faecal samples collected were analysed to identify and correct for any double-counting of individuals or groups, ensuring the most accurate estimate for the population.
Maryke Gray, who coordinated the Virunga gorilla census, says that, although habituated mountain gorillas are continuously monitored, periodic census of the population was a necessary step in conservation.
“The census allows all of us working in conservation to create a benchmark. Like any census, it captures the population at a specific point in time. This benchmark allows us to assess the status of this population as a whole and adjust our conservation efforts accordingly,” explained Ms Gray.
Mountain gorillas are seen as one of the main attractions in this remote part of Central Africa, representing a major tourist destination in Rwanda, Uganda and eastern Congo.
Gorilla populations had been threatened by warfare in the region, which caused many war victims to flee into the mountain gorilla’s habitats. Also poaching has been as great problem, especially during the past conflicts.
The threats from poaching, although reduced, have not been eliminated. Recently, a cross-border patrol discovered and destroyed just over 200 snares in the Virunga Massif over a five-day patrol. “Although poachers typically do not target mountain gorillas, the snares they set are a threat nonetheless,” according to AWF.
By staff writer
© afrol News
http://www.afrol.com/articles/37021
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