Mar. 13, 2013 —
The world's leading conservation organizations have joined together to fight
for the survival of the Endangered Grauer's or eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla
beringei graueri).
Found only in
the mountain and mid-altitude forests of the eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), Grauer's gorilla is not only the largest of the four gorilla
subspecies but also the largest primate in the world.
With their
entire range consumed in conflict since 1996, important populations of Grauer's
and their chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) relatives have gone
largely unmonitored. Different sources have offered varying population
estimates since that time, but their true status is unknown.
The Jane
Goodall Institute, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), Conservation
International (CI), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI), and
local conservation organizations have partnered with the Institut Congolais
pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), the Ministry of the Environment,
Nature Conservation and Tourism (MECNT), national military and police
authorities, and local communities to support the implementation of a recently completed
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conservation Action Plan
for great apes in the eastern DRC.
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