World's Rarest Gorilla Caught on Film

The rarest gorilla on Earth, the elusive Cross River gorilla, has been caught on film by a hidden camera trap for the first time ever.

Researchers estimate that only about 250 to 300 of the gorillas remain on the planet, and humans have rarely observed these critically-endangered primates in their natural habitat.

The two-minute footage shows eight of the gorillas making their way through a forest in Cameroon. The video offers a glimpse of classic gorilla behavior, yet also reveals the plight of the threatened apes.

"The footage provides us with our first tantalizing glimpses of Cross River gorillas behaving normally in their environment," said Christopher Jameson, director of the Takamanda Mone Landscape Project. "A person can study these animals for years and never even catch a glimpse of the gorillas, much less see anything like this."

In a movie-worthy moment (at about 1:10 in the video), a massive silverback gorilla suddenly races along the forest path, beating his chest.

Read on and see video at: http://www.livescience.com/20164-world-rarest-gorilla-caught-film.html

Hidden cameras record ‘The Secret Lives of Penguins’

A year in the life of Antarctic penguins caught on camera

April 2012. Sixteen "hidden" cameras planted by scientists have survived some of the planet's harshest winter conditions to capture the annual activities of penguin colonies in Antarctica.

Researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) journeyed over 9,000 miles south to set up 16 cameras around Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic Island of South Georgia. Penguin research normally takes place in the summer, when scientists can get to the colonies, but they often miss the start of breeding. Now, time-lapse cameras have allowed researchers to record parts of the penguin life cycle which normally go unseen, when humans are not there.

Gentoo & King penguins
The footage captured gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) at Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Peninsula and King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) huddling over winter at Salisbury Plain on South Georgia. The camera at Brown Bluff was covered by a snow drift for part of the winter, but continued to take photos throughout.

ZSL researcher Dr. Ben Collen says: "Antarctica is one of the world's least explored regions, making it all the more important for us to collect worthwhile data on wildlife. New information is vital for making informed conservation decisions, so we are able to best manage species under pressure and deal with the wider global implications of climate change".

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/penguin-antarctic.html