Mountain Gorilla

Gorilla
Mountain Gorilla

Gorilla
Mountain Gorilla

Mountain Gorilla

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Facts
Why They Matter
Threats
What WWF is Doing
How You Can Help

Facts

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. A bit more than half live in the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. The remainder can be found in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. 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.

However due in large part to decades of ongoing efforts and collaboration by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), a unique coalition of three international conservation organizations, WWF, Conservation International (CI), and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), mountain gorilla numbers have been increasing despite these continuous challenges. Together with FFI and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), WWF was one of the founding members of IGCP, and along with national and local partners, contributed to this conservation success story and continues to ensure the long-term survival of mountain gorillas.

Status
Endangered
Population
More than 1,000
Scientific Name
Gorilla beringei beringei
Height
4 to 5 ½ feet when standing on two feet
Weight
up to 440 lbs

As their name implies, mountain gorillas live in forests high in the mountains, at elevations of 8,000 to 13,000 feet. They have thicker fur, and more of it, compared to other great apes. The fur helps them to survive in a habitat where temperatures often drop below freezing. 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.

The recovery of mountain gorilla populations, despite ongoing civil conflict, poaching, and an encroaching human population in one of Africa’s most volatile regions, is a huge conservation achievement. However, although mountain gorillas are the only great apes whose population size is increasing, they remain a conservation-dependent species and continue to need protection and habitat management if they are to survive.

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Why They Matter

Recovery in Progress

Despite years of civil unrest in the region where mountain gorillas live, conservation efforts have succeeded in recovering mountain gorilla populations. Findings show populations in the Virunga Massif have grown to 604 individuals, up from 480 individuals in 2010. This puts the total global wild gorilla population over 1,000 individuals.

Threats

Population More than 1,000
Extinction Risk Endangered
1. EX
  Extinct
  
  No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
2. EW
  Extinct in the Wild
  
  Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population
3. CR
  Critically Endangered
  
  Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild
4. EN
  Endangered
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
5. VU
  Vulnerable
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
6. NT
  Near Threatened
  
  Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future
7. LC
  Least Concern
  
  Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened

Park ranger clearing away wire snare animal traps. These are usually set to catch smaller forest mammals such as duikers and rodents, but also unintentionally trap gorillas from time to time.

War

The war in Rwanda in the early 1990s and decades of civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo have sent waves of refugees and heavily armed militias 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. And parts of the park inhabited by gorillas have at times been taken over entirely by these militias, making survey and conservation work difficult, dangerous, and at times, entirely impossible. Since 1925, 220 Virunga rangers have been killed in the line of duty.

Habitat Loss

As humans have moved into areas near mountain gorillas, they have cleared land for firewood, charcoal, agriculture, and livestock. This can result in increased human-gorilla conflict from competition for space and resources. Even land within protected areas is unsafe from clearing. In 2004, for example, illegal settlers cleared 3,700 acres of gorilla forest in Virunga National Park. This constrains gorillas’ ability to disperse and create n

Disease

Gorillas that come into contact with humans can be vulnerable to human diseases, which gorillas sometimes experience in more severe forms. Mountain gorillas can even die from the common cold. So although gorilla conservation is reliant on tourism for their survival, it also brings risks related to disease transmission. The COVID-19 pandemic not only had a huge negative impact on tourism in the region but it also renewed concerns about the potentially catastrophic effect human disease transmission could have on the small populations of these great apes.

However, studies have found that mountain gorillas that are regularly habituated with researchers and tourists have survived better than unvisited gorillas; they benefit from the greater protection available in those areas and from regular monitoring. Increased survival is also largely due to better veterinary care of sick and injured gorillas

Charcoal Making

Inside gorilla habitat in Virunga National Park, people harvest charcoal for use as a fuel source in cooking and heating. This charcoal production—an illegal, multi-million dollar industry—has destroyed gorilla habitat.

Poaching

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.

What WWF Is Doing

Park guards patrolling the boundary of Virunga National Park.

Conserving a Historic Park

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. When refugees and displaced people encroached upon parkland to flee a war zone, WWF and the United Nations purchased emergency fuel wood supplies so that the people were less likely to look to the park as a fuel source. WWF has also collaborated with the local people to raise environmental awareness and improve the management of natural resources outside the park.

Benefitting Communities

Through IGCP, WWF works with local communities in mountain gorilla ranges to create opportunities and partnerships and provide direct benefits from mountain gorilla conservation. We also support the development of nature-based enterprises linked to tourism and resources within the protected areas.

For example, IGCP helps establish community-owned lodges, which brings substantial tourism revenues to communities and demonstrates the value of mountain gorilla conservation. The investments have strengthened relationships between the community and the parks and improved how the community regards mountain gorilla conservation.

Another example is supporting nature-based enterprises like beekeeping, crafts, cattle rearing, and vegetable growing, which helps diversify livelihood opportunities. IGCP helped create and support community associations and build capacity for these groups, as well as value chains and market development.

IGCP has also supported work planting crops that gorillas and other wildlife find unpalatable and therefore wouldn’t want to raid. Tea, wheat, lemongrass, and artemisia along park boundaries create a buffer between the park edge and people’s gardens. In Nkuringo (Bwindi Impenetrable National Park) a buffer zone has increased community income and employment opportunities directly and indirectly through tourism and tea plantations.

Promoting ecotourism

The future of the mountain gorillas is fully linked to gorilla tourism, and over 70% of all mountain gorillas are presently habituated to human presence for tourism purposes. Mountain gorilla conservation and tourism contribute substantially to community and livelihood development while also improving local people’s attitudes towards mountain gorillas.

Gorilla tourism has played a pivotal role in not only fostering the recovery of endangered mountain gorillas but also in benefiting human-wildlife coexistence. The remarkable success of mountain gorilla tourism has significantly contributed to the conservation efforts within the Greater Virunga Landscape. This is achieved partly by offering economic and social incentives to local populations, thereby reducing their reliance on more invasive and destructive resource extraction practices that could otherwise degrade the habitat and jeopardize the survival of wildlife.

However, gorilla tourism may also pose potential threats to these apes due to the risk of Anthropozoonoses, increased stress levels, and negative impacts on their behavior. In response to these concerns, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has formulated comprehensive guidelines for great ape tourism aimed at mitigating these risks

Through IGCP, WWF supports responsible tourism practices that minimize the impacts on gorilla populations. For example, IGCP helped to prepare and implement long-term tourism development strategies to guide investments in mountain gorilla conservation. It also supported plans that embed mountain gorilla tourism practice standards at both the transboundary and local government levels.

Monitoring mountain gorilla populations

Research and monitoring of mountain gorillas helps us better understand their threats and create targeted conservation interventions. IGCP, along with many partners including WWF, conducted the first mountain gorilla census in Virunga Massif in 2003, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 2006, and across their entire population in the Virunga landscape in 2016.

IGCP further supports these efforts by providing equipment and training to rangers on monitoring techniques and understanding gorilla behavior.

A ranger-based monitoring system using SMART and camera traps that improves and streamlines data collection and sharing among the protected area agencies was created by IGCP. Rangers and field staff collect data on the movements of mountain gorillas, ecological and social impacts, and zoonotic diseases and transmission. The data provides up-to-date information on mountain gorilla population numbers and dynamics that guide conservation and tourism strategies and actions on the ground.

Managing human-gorilla conflict

The success of mountain gorilla conservation depends on addressing the competing needs of the gorillas themselves and the livelihoods of local communities. So although people living in these areas can be the greatest threat to mountain gorillas, they can also be effective conservationists for the species.

To show the benefits of mountain gorilla conservation, IGCP worked with the Uganda Wildlife Authority to develop a revenue-sharing program and policy from park entry fees and the local governments as a conditional grant for supporting projects for the benefit of communities living alongside the gorilla habitat. This has strengthened a partnership among protected areas management, local communities, and local governments for managing wildlife resources sustainably in and around protected areas.

IGCP has helped create a number of community institutions to reduce human-wildlife conflict. For example, the Human-Gorilla Conflict Resolution Initiative (HUGO) established around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 1998 monitors mountain gorilla movements and responds when any gorillas move outside the park. The group has greatly improved the attitudes of the community and public towards mountain gorilla conservation while also helping to respond to gorilla movements outside the park.

IGCP also helped establish the Animateurs de Conservation (ANICO) comprised of community-based volunteers who raise awareness about conservation around the Volcanoes and Virunga National Parks. Its members mobilize the community to support conservation and engage in problem animal management. ANICO helped lobby the Rwandan government to compensate people who suffer damages caused by problem animals.

Creating partnerships for mountain gorilla conservation

IGCP helped form the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) that brings together Rwanda, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda protected area authorities and other collaborating partners engaged in conservation. The GVTC advocates for improved and coordinated transboundary conservation and management of natural resources, including information, research, expertise, and cost-sharing across borders.

IGCP helps protected area agencies and their partners to work more effectively with communities like facilitating arrangements for communities to access negotiated resources from the national parks and developing revenue-sharing schemes between the two parties.

Lastly, IGPC invested in community-based institutions to ensure communities are organized and can actively engage in conservation. The institutions help support livelihood activities such as collecting rainwater to water crops, finding ways to improve income and healthcare, and managing human-gorilla conflict.