Why Mountain Gorillas are Endangered

Why Mountain Gorillas are Endangered

Why Mountain gorillas are endangered : The mountain gorillas are a sub species of the gorilla family and were previously known as critically endangered. There are two species of the gorillas and these are the western gorilla and the eastern gorillas which are further sub divided to four sub species. The western gorillas are divided into two and these are the Cross River gorillas and the western lowland gorillas while the eastern gorillas are sub divided into the eastern gorillas and the mountain gorillas.

The gorillas are lovely creatures that live in the mountains of Uganda, Rwanda  (Rwanda the land of thousand hills) and DRC. They are almost extinct because of a lot of human factors that are a threat to their existence. We discuss some of the key issues that have created this situation and why Uganda Safaris, Rwanda Tours & Congo Safaris are at stake.

Besides the mountain gorillas, among the sub species, the cross river gorillas have the smallest population of about 250 individuals left in the entire world making the greatly vulnerable to extinction. The Eastern lowland gorillas are also threatened to reducing in numbers as there was a 77% noticeable decline in their numbers between the years of 1996 and 2016. The Eastern lowland gorillas are estimated to be at a population of less the 3,800 individuals only left in the world.

In the earlier 20’s the mountain gorilla population was low under 1,000 only individuals left in the world and was on the International Union of Conservation (IUCN) list of the critically endangered.

With the collective efforts of the stakeholders of the mountain gorillas, the numbers have been steadily increasing and the last census that was done in 2019 upgraded the gorillas from the critically endangered species to the endangered species as about 1,063 individuals were recorded to be living in Eastern Africa.

The mountain gorillas can only be visited in two places in the entire world and this is in the Albertine rift which covers the Volcanoes national park of Rwanda, the Mgahinga gorilla national park of Uganda and the Virunga national park of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other place is the Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda. The mountain gorillas over the years have been threatened by extinction but with the day to day efforts of the individuals working tirelessly to protect them in their wild habitat, the numbers are increasing on day to day basis.

There have been a number of births recorded in the 4 mountain gorilla national parks and this brings hope to species. There are a number as to why the mountain gorillas’ numbers were reducing and a few of them are discussed below.

Weak conservation policies

The mountain gorillas can fully thrive in the wild habitat and this exposed them to the malicious people who killed them. The mountain gorilla home authorities and the other stake holders were abit lax about conservation of these mountain gorillas which left them unprotected. Humans are the greatest threat to the mountain gorillas and yet their best friends as their effort determines the thriving or demise of this species.

With more awareness of the importance of conserving the mountain gorillas, the stakeholders have come around and thus the evident increase in numbers of the mountain gorillas. A number of conservation policies are put in place by the national parks like limiting the number of visitors per mountain gorilla family, tough penalties for the poachers and enforcing of personnel to guard and make rounds in the forests.

Poachers

Poachers were previously a big threat to the existence of the mountain gorillas as the malicious individuals hunted down the mountain gorillas and sometimes killed them for their body parts that were used in witchcraft. The mountain gorilla is one of the strongest in the jungle and some killed them for prestige to show their strength and this affected the numbers of the gorillas.

Tough penalties have been implemented for the individuals convicted of poaching any wild life and ranger guides have also been deployed to make routine forest checks for any poachers or set traps for the wildlife.

Diseases

Mountain gorillas share up to 99% of their DNA with humans which makes them prone to contracting human disease. The mountain gorillas are believed to be able to contract the air borne human viruses such as influenza, colds, Ebola or even worse the new COVID-19 virus.

Once mountain gorillas contract any of these, it can be deadly as it will definitely be an outbreak and treatment can be very expensive and almost impossible. The lowland gorillas were once faced with an outbreak of the Ebola virus which claimed many lives and till date today, the area is still in recovery with up to 95% of mortality rates.

Habitat loss

With the increasing human population, the homes of the mountain gorillas are being encroached on by the humans looking for land to expand or to do farming or even settle. The mountain gorilla homes were also once used as refugee camps during the war times in the region.

Habitat loss

Most of the area that gorillas live in is also inhabited by human and due to the population increase; a lot of people have increasingly encroached on the gorilla habitant. This has with time threatened the existence of these rare gorillas.

Man has cleared forests for various reasons leaving lots of wildlife including the gorillas homeless. This has affected the reproduction patterns hence a fall in population. The political instabilities have also affected the lives of the gorillas.

Traditional medicine

Parts of the gorillas are used as charms by many local doctors in the area. This has encouraged a lot of poaching since majority of the populations believes in these charms.

Hunting

The gorillas are also hunted for meat by the local who export this meat at an expensive rate to European countries. People also hunt the gorillas as trophies.

In some cases it is the silverback that is killed which affects the reproduction process of the family.

Many people especially in DRC hunt the gorillas for meet and this has put a lot of threat to their existence.

Oil & gas exploration

There is a lot of Gas Exploration Companies have been granted permission to operate in Virunga National Park which is the only home to the gorillas in DRC.

The good things is the oil concentration does not fall within the exact location of the gorillas but the development in the park negatively affects the cycle and growth of the gorillas.

Wildlife trade

There is a lot of wildlife trade in the DRC and at times the gorillas are killed accidentally as the poachers try to catch other animals. The instability within their habitat puts their survival at risk and later may lead to death.

Diseases.

The concentration of people in the national park risks the health of the gorillas that’s why for a person to track gorillas they must be in good health condition such that all risks are minimized.

The human diseases like Ebola and others also kill the gorillas therefore an outbreak also risks the gorillas lives.

War & instability

The constant civil unrest have made it hard for conservation efforts in the protected areas of DRC. Most areas have actually been turned into Camps especially in the 1990s.

What to do about it;

The mountain gorilla conservation efforts can be backed by your efforts as well and there are a few ways you can do this.

You can support one of the groups who have the conservation of mountain gorillas as their mission as there are a number in the area, you can also book yourself a mountain gorilla permit as a percentage of the fee paid is put back in the conservation of the mountain gorillas.

Get in touch with us and let us know what your particular interest is and let us guide you as our expert travel team is waiting to hear from you.