GKZ: Our DNA is 98.4% similar to gorillas, it’s a very high percentage. Why are Mountain Gorillas endangered? Human encroachment is the main reason Why are mountain gorillas endangered. How did you feel when you saw your first mountain gorilla in the wild? Why Are Mountain Gorillas Endangered. A gorilla called Karungyi, with its baby, in Uganda. They are endangered, threatened by civil war in a small area of Africa where they live. This puts the total global wild gorilla population over 1,000 individuals. What might have been a bleak outlook for the subspecies just a couple of decades ago has brightened in recent years due to conservation efforts. Virunga National Park is home to around a third of those gorillas, which reside in the dense forests on the lush slopes of the Virunga volcanoes. The biggest threats to this once critically endangered great ape's survival come from political instability, human encroachment, and forest degradation. They have thicker fur, and more of it, compared to other great apes. Students are asked to fill in the missing information and then fill in the missing words using the word bank. But as humans have moved more and more into the gorillas’ territory, the gorillas have been pushed farther up into the mountains for longer periods, forcing them to endure dangerous and sometimes deadly conditions. Even where communities value and respect the great apes for their contribution to ecotourism income, there is considerable risk of humans inadvertently spreading illness and disease to gorillas. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. The main threat to mountain gorillas is the degradation of their habitat. WWF teamed up with the much-loved Congolese musician Samba Mapangala and his Orchestra Virunga to work on a conservation tool—one that drives home a positive message in an upbeat tune and uplifting tone. No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died, Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population, Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild, Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild, Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future, Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened. All rights reserved. Only about 1,000 of these great apes remain in the wild, according to the most recent census. The endangered mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are never and will never will be found in any zoo in the whole world as they can’t survive while caged. World Wildlife Fund Inc. is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax ID number 52-1693387) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. These apes can only be seen in Africa; Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. Therefore 86% of mountain gorillas diet consists of leaves, stems and buds of about 142 different species of plants that are found in its habitat. And no one is allowed to go when they are sick. Lonely Planet Writer. GKZ: It was amazing. We collect samples once a week, and we compare them to humans and livestock in that area, and then we know if they are picking up something. Since the discovery of the mountain gorilla subspecies in 1902, its population has endured years of war, hunting, habitat destruction and disease—threats so severe that it was once thought the species might be extinct by the end of the twentieth century. And as the park recovers from civil unrest, WWF has worked to reforest areas and fund antipoaching patrols. Findings show populations in the Virunga Massif have grown to 604 individuals, up from 480 individuals in 2010. Gorillas share 98.4% of the same DNA as humans. I was fascinated by them, and I decided I wanted to work with them for the rest of my life. Mountain gorillas live in the mountainous areas and forests of East/Central Africa. Inside gorilla habitat in Virunga National Park, people harvest charcoal for use as a fuel source in cooking and heating. Endangered mountain gorilla populations are rising thanks to conservationists. The mountain gorilla (G. b. beringei) has only about 1,000 individuals. Research carried out in 2016 found that there were 880 mountain gorillas living in the wild. The mountain gorillas are only found in the east and central tropical rain forests of Africa where the three great countries of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda lie. We want to start to get tourists wearing masks because they get too close and the gorillas get too close because they are very curious about people. As their name implies, mountain gorillas live in forests high in the mountains, at elevations of 8,000 to 13,000 feet. WWF has also collaborated with the local people to raise environmental awareness and improve the management of natural resources outside the park. 20 December 2019. This name comes from the long silver stripe that develops on their backs as they age. On addition to human settlement, man has destroyed forests for a numerous reasons and this has left Wildlife as well as the mountain gorillas homeless. The mountain gorillas are gentle giants, accepting of people and curious. The danger posed by humans to gorillas extends well beyond the traditional risks of poaching and habitat protection. New study offers intriguing evidence, First great apes at U.S. zoo receive COVID-19 vaccine made for animals, Beloved silverback gorilla killed by poachers in Uganda, Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society. The good news is, their numbers have recently been rising. Since 1996, 140 Virunga rangers have been killed in the line of duty. EN … GKZ: We do a lot of gorilla health monitoring. The world’s smallest population of mountain gorillas—a subspecies of the eastern gorilla—is split in two and scientists have debated whether they may be two separate subspecies. Deforestation and growing human population are … And we train village health teams that go to people’s homes to promote good health care. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, which works to protect mountain gorillas in Uganda. We also train the rangers to look after gorillas, and we train the human-gorilla conflict team, which has been trained to take gorillas back to the park. The challenge inspires people to save an irreplaceable natural treasure like the gorilla when they face hunger, desperation and even death. This is the only significant population of mountain gorillas outside Rwanda. What work does Conservation Through Public Health do? As the … WWF works with governments throughout the Congo Basin, timber companies and international lending institutions to encourage dialogue and promote the use of positive environmental practices in the logging industry. Andrea Smith. In honor of World Wildlife Day, we celebrate some hopeful conservation stories to remind us actions make a difference and there’s still time to preserve our natural world if we all do our part. And parts of the park inhabited by gorillas have been taken over by rebels, making survey and conservation work difficult and dangerous. We make sure they promote how to prevent getting sick from wildlife and how to avoid giving wildlife dieases. They usually live in groups of up to 30 and are led by elder males known as silverbacks. This almost certainly resulted in the deaths of the endangered mountain gorillas. GKZ: The gorillas may get ebola – they don’t have it naturally, but they may get it from something in the forest. Siena tells us about one teen and her Dad who are trying to help the endangeredmountain gorillas in Africa. The danger posed by humans to gorillas extends well beyond the traditional risks of poaching and habitat protection. The war in Rwanda in the early 1990s and years of civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo have sent waves of refugees into the region around the Virunga Mountains parks that are home to more than half the mountain gorilla population, leading to poaching and destruction of gorilla habitat. They caught the scabies from the local community – gorillas like to go into people’s gardens and eat their banana plants. Virunga National Park, established in 1925, is Africa’s first national park and home to more than half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. Conservation efforts have led to an increase in overall population of the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in the Virungas and at Bwindi. Challenges Humans are pushing mountain gorillas out of the wild and into extinction. extinction due to the political and social warfare, demand for natural resources, and It took me a while to see my first gorilla because when I got to the park I had a nasty cold and you’re not allowed close to gorillas when you are sick because you can easily make gorillas ill. A baby mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, in the Sabyinyo Mountains of Rwanda. We also promote conservation. Despite years of civil unrest in the region where mountain gorillas live, conservation efforts have found success. He settled with us, he watched us and we watched him eating a big piece of bark. Since the discovery of the mountain gorilla subspecies in 1902, its population has endured years of war, hunting, habitat destruction and disease—threats so severe that it was once thought the species might be extinct by the end of the twentieth century. Life for mountain gorillas isn't all peaceful. What Do Mountain Gorillas Eat. The main threat to gorillas is people and the associated increasing pressure on the gorilla's habitat. It pays special tribute to the rangers and other conservationists of Virunga who dedicate their lives to protecting gorillas. They are gentle Buddahs! ; Rest of their diet consists of: These are usually set to catch smaller forest mammals such as duikers and rodents, but also unintentionally trap gorillas from time to time. Gorillas in a list: Genetic map of critically endangered mountain gorilla published. They are the most endangered of the gorilla sub-species after the Cross River Gorilla in Cameroon and Nigeria. Copyright © 2015-2016 National Geographic Partners, LLC. With so few individuals in the wild the mountain gorilla is listed as critically endangered. How much do your students know about the gentle mountain gorilla? When did your interest in gorillas begin? In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a remote, heavily forested area of Uganda, vet Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka founded and is now CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, a non-profit organisation committed to protecting mountain gorillas. Only about 1000 remain in the wild and they can only found in Rwanda, Uganda or the Democratic Republic of Congo. That was in 1994. Hunters kill them for food or trophies. According to a survey made by IUCN there are only 880 individual s alive which live in two isolated population, one population is in Uganda and the other is in Rwanda . Make a symbolic gorilla adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts. Lets researchers study the population of the endangered species Will be possible to identify gorillas … GKZ: One of the first cases I had we found scabies skin disease in gorillas. The song was recorded in Swahili—the most commonly spoken language of the Virunga landscape—and debuted in September 2009. Even land within protected areas is not safe from clearing—in 2004, for example, illegal settlers cleared 3,700 acres of gorilla forest in Virunga National Park. Mountain Gorilla is a sub specie of Eastern Lowland Gorillas. GKZ: Yes, the same cures work. View our inclusive approach to conservation, Nine reasons to feel hopeful for wildlife, Mountain Gorilla: WWF Wildlife and Climate Change Series. It was distributed as a free resource in the Congo Basin where the message has taken root as it spilled out of local radio stations, in homes, at schools and on the streets. Mountain Gorillas are endangered due to the following reasons: Destructive human activities like deforestation; civil wars; poaching; human interaction with Gorillas; Forest clearance for human settlement is badly affecting the mountain Gorillas habitats. the distance between the two population is 25 miles occupied by humans. When I got better we went to see them and we only saw one gorilla that day and he was very accommodating. Park guards patrolling the boundary of Virunga National Park. By Ivan Lieman (AFP) Civil unrest and military exercises pose heightened risks to more than 200 threatened species, including elephant populations and the critically-endangered Eastern gorilla, conservationists warned Wednesday. Gladys and her team work to prevent the spread of disease from humans to gorillas and vice-versa through local community health programmes and education. The world’s entire population of endangered mountain gorillas live only in the Virunga Massif and Bwindi, which spans parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. Then I got to study them when I was in vet school in London. Increased survival is also largely due to better veterinary care of sick and injured gorillas. Eastern gorillas are listed as being critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. There is little to no direct targeting of mountain gorillas for bushmeat or pet trade, but they can be caught and harmed by snares set for other animals. It was the first proof that wild great apes are at risk of human disease. 1250 24th Street, N.W. Join us to make change. The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is a critically endangered species of the genus Gorilla and the largest living primate.At present, the species is subdivided into two subspecies.The eastern lowland gorilla or Grauer’s gorilla (G. b. graueri) is more populous, at about 3,800 individuals. 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