IGCP's mission is to empower the people of Rwanda, DRC and Uganda to jointly manage a network of transboundary protected areas that the mountain gorillas depend on. In 1991, this effort evolved into today's International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), a joint initiative of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), and WWF. Our 40 years of work to save the mountain gorilla and its forest habitat represents one of our longest-running flagship species programmes.Įarly gorilla surveys and aid to protected areas in the Albertine Rift ecoregion started in the 1970s. While gorilla habitat does not currently fall within an oil concession, development in the park could negatively affect the animals' security.Īlthough the refugees left the camps around Virunga National Park in 1996, continued civil unrest and the presence of armed militias makes survey and conservation work difficult in the DRC's protected areas, which are now in rebel-held territory.Īs more people move into their habitat, and more tourists come to see them, mountain gorillas are becoming increasingly exposed to a variety of human ailments.

In 2007, a further 7 gorillas were killed.Įuropean oil and gas companies have been granted exploration consessions in Virunga National Park, home to Democratic Republic of the Congo's mountain gorilla population. Between 19, when large numbers of Rwandan refugees fled to camps at the edge of the Virunga National Park, 4 habituated silverback gorillas were killed, along with some of their group members. In addition to being hunted for meat, mountain gorillas are also illegally hunted for trophies and live infants.Īs many as 15 of Virunga's mountain gorillas may have been killed since the outbreak of civil war in 1990. Convoys of people from Rwanda and DRC destroyed large tracts of the park, home to mountain gorillas and other endangered species, to create agricultural and pastoral land. In 2004, 1,500 hectares of prime mountain gorilla habitat were cleared by illegal settlers in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to evidence uncovered by the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, one of WWF's partners. Their need for land to cultivate has reduced the forest in which the gorillas live to virtual islands in the middle of expanding human settlements.īetween 19, large numbers of Rwandan refugees fled to camps at the edge of the Virunga National Park, leading to uncontrolled firewood harvesting as well as increased poaching (see below). More than 100,000 people live in the remote areas where mountain gorillas are found. Additionally, four orphaned mountain gorillas currently reside in a sanctuary in Uganda. The Bwindi population lives at elevations of 1,500- 2,300 m.Most of these gorillas range within the southern part of Virunga National Park, DRC, and the Volcanoes National Park (Parc National des Volcans), northern Rwanda, while a few use the Mgahinga National Park, southwestern Uganda.

The Virunga population has increased to 604, up from 480 in 2010, and lives at altitudes ranging from 2,300-4,500 m.

This number is likely to be accurate, as these animals have been intensely monitored since the 1950s. Thanks to conservation efforts, the population of mountain gorillas has increased from 620 individuals in 1989 to around 1,004 individuals today. Indeed, there were fears that the mountain gorilla would become extinct in the same century it was discovered. These factors led to a dramatic decline in numbers. In the 100 years since its discovery, the mountain gorilla has endured uncontrolled hunting, war, disease, destruction of its forest habitat, and capture for the illegal pet trade. Some primatologists believe the Bwindi gorillas may be a separate subspecies. Mountain gorillas are found in two separate locations: the Virunga range of extinct volcanic mountains on the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda, and in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. There is an overlap in group territories and the silverback generally defends his group rather than his territory. Mountain gorillas are found at high altitudes (2,500-4,000 m) in montane forests, as well as bamboo forests.Ī group of mountain gorillas usually consists of a single dominant silverback male, three adult females, and 4-5 offspring. Size: On average, adult males weigh 160 kg, and adult females 98 kg. Adult males grow a patch of silver hair on their back and hips, giving them the name 'silverback'. It has longer hair, jaws and teeth, but slightly shorter arms, than the other subspecies, the eastern lowland gorilla. The mountain gorilla became known to science on 17 October 1902, and is a subspecies of eastern gorilla.

P gorilla background