How many Mountain Gorillas are left in the World?
Any success after hard work deserves celebration and the mountain gorillas, one of the four sub-species of gorillas have now become endangered from critically endangered (according to IUCN Red List), hence a great achievement for gorilla tourism. It’s because of the continuous efforts of the three Governments through the concerned wildlife governing authorities (Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and L’Institut Congolais la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) as well as Gorilla Conservation Organizations (such as Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund (MGCF), Digit Fund, Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Projects (MGVP) and International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) among others) that an increase in their numbers have been recorded.
The number of the giant apes has more than doubled in the past three decades regardless of challenges like civil conflicts, poaching as well as habitat destruction and the recent census of the Virunga Massif (Volcanoes, Virunga and Mgahinga National Parks) put the global population of mountain gorillas at over 604 in addition to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park population that now stands at over 400 individuals, hence bringing the number of these endangered species to more than 1004 mountain gorillas in the wild and none in captivity. This signifies one of the exceptional success stories in gorilla conservation. You should be wondering how researchers are able to count the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Well, traces left inform of nests are used to calculate their numbers, by walking along pre-determined straight lines through the jungles and the nests found along the straight line are recorded from the transect.
This Census was conducted as a combination of in-depth fieldwork between 2015 and 2016 as well as genetic analysis. Additionally, the Genetic analysis of DNA from fecal samples makes it easier to count these giant apes without even observing them. The researchers (field teams) walked for over 2000 kilometers (1243 miles) to sweep intensively through the whole 440 square kilometers of the Virunga Volcanoes while searching for the trails as well as nest sites left by the mountain gorillas. The genetic analysis that took over 18 months to finalize was carried out on approximately 1100 fecal samples to ascertain that there was a minimum of 186 unhabituated gorillas (those not frequently visited by humans) while the remaining 70% of them comprised of about 418 mountain gorillas that were habituated for tourism and research purposes. The 604 mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes were found in 14 solitary males and 41 social groups compared to the 250 gorillas in the mid-1980s as well as 480 in 2010. This Census was a coordinated and collaborative effort of the Park services of three countries where mountain gorillas are found-Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as different Non-Governmental Organizations and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig Germany.
However even with the increase in population, the mountain gorillas still face serious threats (challenges) such as climate change, infrastructure development, on-going conflicts and civil unrest, ever-present threat of diseases, poaching using wire snares that are usually set for other animals like small antelopes, buffaloes and elephants among others but instead kill or harm the mountain gorillas as well. It’s also during the field surveys that over 380 snares were destroyed but unfortunately, one of the deadly snares was discovered to have a dead mountain gorilla.
When it comes to appreciating, the efforts of the Park staff on-ground have to be acknowledged because it’s from the extreme conservation efforts through the introduction of Park guards, veterinary work, tourism, and community support projects that positive impacts have been noticed on these giant apes. Sir David Frederick Attenborough whose 1979 magical encounter with the giant apes still remains a popular Television moment noted that “when I first visited the mountain gorillas, the situation was dire with the number of these magical animals was dreadfully small thus it is incredibly encouraging to see how the efforts of many groups-NGOs, Communities, and Governments have paid off. However, Attenborough an Ambassador for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) the United Kingdom pointed that the threats to these great apes have not disappeared completely and thus, the challenge must be to ensure that the achievements are sustained long into the future.
Also, protecting the mountain gorillas comes with a price (loss of lives), for instance in April 2018 over 5 Park Rangers as well as a driver was ambushed within DRC’s Virunga National Park thereby leading to its closure but the recent loss of lives was so far the worst in the history of this magnificent National Park where over 170 rangers lost their dear lives over the past 20 years while trying to protect the wildlife in this tranquil Conservation Area.
In conclusion, mountain gorillas are one of the most treasured and recognizable wildlife species on the planet and presently categorized as endangered (on IUCN Red List) but the current census shows that they are increasing in numbers with their global population standing at over 1004 individuals.