The Great Apes

[Tshokwane]

From the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Blog Grauer's gorillas in Congo now officially "critically" endangered:

After decades of extreme survival pressure, the conservation status of Grauer’s gorillas, found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has just been officially raised to the highest threat level – critically endangered – by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.


The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund collaborated with an international team to recommend this reassessment,” says Dr. Tara Stoinski, president and CEO/Chief scientific officer. “This change in status confirms what we already know from our work on the ground in the core of Grauer’s gorilla range – their situation is dire and if the current rate of decline continues, they could be extinct in as few as five years," she reports.

The Fossey Fund is the only NGO with a permanent field station in the low-altitude core range of the Grauer’s gorilla, and now has four teams of trackers protecting them on a daily basis, with a fifth team in development. Other than separate populations protected by the Congolese wildlife authorities (ICCN)  in two national parks, the Fossey Fund provides the only direct protection for this now critically endangered species.

“Most of the remaining Grauer’s gorillas live outside of protected areas,” says Dr. Damien Caillaud, the Fossey Fund’s research director for Congo programs and one of the authors on the Grauer’s current assessment. “And they are extremely sensitive to areas where poaching occurs. They won’t be found within a 5-8 kilometer range around mining camps, for example, so each such camp leads to gorillas leaving an area of some 30-50 square kilometers of forest. And there are many, many mining camps in the eastern Congo forest.”

A key feature of the Fossey Fund’s work in protecting Grauer’s gorillas in Congo is the involvement of local communities, especially traditional landowners.  Field staff are hired from local villages, food supplies are bought from local crops, and community development efforts are underway, such as small-scale sustainable farm projects to help decrease malnutrition and bushmeat hunting, and support for youth education.

"The Fossey Fund hopes that this multi-faceted model will build the basis for conservation action that can be applied throughout the range of Grauer’s gorillas, encouraging local groups to protect forests directly,” says Urbain Ngobobo, head of the Fossey Fund's Congo programs. Reply