Gorillas beating the odds

2005-01-31 13:27

Nairobi - An isolated community of endangered gorillas in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is managing to hold its own and may even be growing despite the constant threat from poachers and civil war, a US-based conservation organisation said on Thursday.

A new census by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) counted 168 Grauers, or eastern lowland, gorillas in a remote area of the southeastern Kahuzi-Biega National Park, up from an estimated 120 to 130 in 2000, it said.

"Most encouragingly, a number of the groups had infants," it said in a statement.

In 1996, the population of eastern lowland gorillas in the same area of the park was estimated to be 245 to 270 but years of ensuing war cut those numbers in half, the WCS said.

The society, based at New York's Bronx Zoo, attributed the gorillas' resilience to the bravery of Congolese rangers in the mountain highlands of the park near the Rwandan border where the security situation is highly unstable.

"The fact that this Grauers gorilla population may actually be increasing is a tribute to the park guards who have stood their ground against rebel armies and poachers," said Jefferson Hall, a WCS researcher.

Can make a comeback

"Im absolutely convinced that if the guards did not remain in Kahuzi-Biega, there would be no animals left," he said.

About 75% of the world's population of the eastern lowland gorillas is believed to be living in and around the Kahuzi-Biega park, although their total population is not known.

The findings represent a rare bit of good news for animals in the DRC, whose numbers have been decimated by years of conflict and illegal hunting.

Earlier in January, the DRC government approved a plan to send five highly endangered white rhinos to Kenya in an urgent effort to save the species from extinction at the hands of poachers in the country's Garamba National Park.

"The survey results show us that even sensitive species like gorillas can make a comeback if they are protected and their habitat remains intact," said Innocent Liengola, who conducted the census for the WCS.

"The challenge is to maintain this trend."

- AFP