New total represents an increase
of 25% since 2010 in its central African heartland
Damian CarringtonEnvironment
editor
Thu 31 May 2018 15.52 BSTLast
modified on Thu 31 May 2018 18.45 BST
It is one of the most
recognisable animals in the world and one of the most endangered, but a
new census reveals the surviving mountain gorilla population has now risen
above 1,000.
This represents a rise of 25%
since 2010 in its heartland of the Virunga Massif in central Africa. It also
marks success for intensive conservation work in a region riven by armed
conflict, and where six
park guards were murdered in April.
Sir David Attenborough,
whose 1979 encounter with the great
apes remains a famous television moment, said: “When I first visited
the mountain gorillas, the situation was dire: the number of these remarkable
animals was dreadfully small. It is incredibly heartening therefore to see how
the efforts of so many different groups – communities, governments, NGOs – have
paid off.”
But Attenborough, an ambassador
for WWF UK, warned: “The threats to mountain gorillas haven’t disappeared
entirely, of course, so now the challenge must be to ensure that these
achievements are sustained long into the future.”
The 1979 encounter led him to
reflect: “There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance
with a gorilla than any other animal I know – they are so like us.”
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