An infant Grauer’s gorilla in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park. About 60% of the species’ global population lives in the park and surrounding community forests. Photo Credit: Joe McKenna via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Animals DRCongoAn Optimistic Future for This Gorilla: New Conservation Efforts in the Works
The largest gorilla subspecies that call the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) home has been critically endangered for years, but a recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has just given the world some hope: the Grauer gorilla population has nearly doubled in the past 5 years!
There are now about 6,800 Grauer gorillas in comparison to an estimated 3,800 in 2016. Deo Kujirakwinka, coauthor of the study and the WCS DRC technical director stated, “I was very surprised at the findings as our message in 2016 was that the situation for the gorillas was pretty catastrophic. Now […] we know there are more of them in places we could not look last time. We may even find some more in other areas we have yet to search.”
The DRC is an area very rich in natural minerals, leading to some habitat and land loss through mining efforts. However, in community forests, mining is not allowed, and they are likely to play a crucial role in the survival of Grauer gorillas. In these community areas, it is critical that the native peoples and the gorillas be able to co-exist. Further efforts to engage the local communities in conservation efforts are indeed underway.
