Gorillas Caught in the Crossfire in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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.

Continued: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130313111931.htm