Population analysis suggests Grauer's gorilla is Critically Endangered

Date: October 19, 2016

Source: PLOS

Grauer's gorilla, which is confined to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is now Critically Endangered, according to a study published October 19, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andrew Plumptre from Wildlife Conservation Society, USA, and colleagues.

This is the first analysis of the Grauer's gorilla population since civil war broke out in the region in 1996. Since the war, armed miners have hunted bushmeat including gorillas, but the presence of militia has complicated assessments of the gorilla population. Plumptre and colleagues assessed local community and ranger-collected data that included encounter rates at gorilla nests at 10 sites as well as spatial occupancy across the species' range.

Before the war, the population was estimated at 16,900 individuals. The researchers now estimate that there are only 3,800 Grauer's gorillas left in the wild, a 77% decline in a single generation. While this species was previously classified as Endangered, the gorillas are now listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species based on this new population estimate. The new analysis also suggests that the gorilla's range is about 19,700 km2, and identified three key areas that are the most critical for the remaining population of this great ape.

Read on 

Four New Mammal Species Discovered in Democratic Republic of Congo

Dec. 16, 2013 — Julian Kerbis Peterhans, a Roosevelt University professor and adjunct curator at The Field Museum who has conducted extensive studies on mammals in Africa, has announced the discovery of four new species of small mammals in the eastern section of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The mammals were found during an expedition to the Misotshi-Kabogo highlands led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and in another nearby forest with the Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles (CRSN) Lwiro -- areas that were previously unexplored. "Our discoveries demonstrate the need for conserving this isolated reservoir of biodiversity," Kerbis said.

Continued

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

Democratic Republic of Congo's Best Run Reserve Is Hemorrhaging Elephants

Feb. 28, 2013 — The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) largest remaining forest elephant population, located in the Okapi Faunal Reserve (OFR), has declined by 37 percent in the last five years, with only 1,700 elephants now remaining, according to wildlife surveys by WCS and DRC officials. WCS scientists warn that if poaching of forest elephants in DRC continues unabated, the species could be nearly extinguished from Africa's second largest country within ten years.

According to the latest survey, 5,100, or 75 percent, of the reserve's elephants have been killed in the last 15 years. These numbers are particularly shocking as the OFR is considered the best protected conservation area in DRC. According to WCS, the primary reason for the recent decline in forest elephant numbers is ivory poaching.

The survey comes in the wake of another grim report earlier this month from Gabon where 11,000 elephants were slaughtered in Minkebe National Park over a ten-year period. WCS continue to sound the alarm that rampant poaching is decimating elephant populations throughout Africa, and more needs to be done before populations vanish from many areas.

"The global poaching crisis for elephants is at epidemic proportions," said WCS Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science John Robinson. "The world must come together to recognize this problem and to stop the killing, trafficking, and demand, or we will lose elephants in the wild in our lifetime."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130228155438.htm

Four Chinese men arrested in Nairobi for smuggling ivory

Chinese men arrested en route from DRC to China

February 2013. Four Chinese men were arrested at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while on transit from Lubumbashi, in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Guangzhou, in China.

The four suspects were seized by a joint security team from the Kenya Airports Police Unit, Kenya Revenue Authority, national carrier Kenya Airways and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). They were found in possession of assorted pieces ivory including five ivory pendants, 23 bangles, a pen holder, 28 beaded bungles, 40 chopsticks, six necklaces, five pieces of worked ivory and two pieces of raw ivory weighing 9.6kgs.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/china-ivory-arrest.html

INCREDIBLY HUMANLIKE NEW SPECIES OF BLOND MONKEY DISCOVERED IN CONGO

The constant news drumbeat of wildlife trafficking, habitat destruction, and extinctions can get pretty damn exhausting. And how bad was it when those new Caribbean lizards were announced with the caveat that they are likely already extinct? Well, here’s a ray of sunshine amidst the gloom: A new species of monkey has been described in the still-mysterious rainforests in the central of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Researchers said that it’s only the second new monkey species discovered in 28 years.

According to a paper published in PLoS One, the lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is a novel species of guenon monkeys, which are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Lesulas, named by local hunters, are medium-sized, slim monkeys with long arms and legs, and are notable for their surprisingly blond facial hair and incredibly human-like faces. I mean, come on. Look at that guy!

Read the rest at Motherboard


http://www.vice.com/read/incredibly-humanlike-new-species-of-blond-monkey-discovered-in-congo

New species of monkey discovered in Africa

New monkey species in Democratic Republic of Congo
September 2012. Researchers have identified a new species of African monkey, locally known as the lesula. This is only the second new species of African monkey discovered in the last 28 years, after the discovery of the Kipunji in Tanzania in 2005, which was actually a whole new genus.

First seen in 2007
The first lesula found was a young captive animal seen in 2007 in a school director's compound in the town of Opala in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The young monkey bore a resemblance to the owl faced monkey, but its coloration was unlike that of any other known species.

Over the following three years, the study authors located additional lesula in the wild, determined its genetic and anatomical distinctiveness, and made initial observations of its behaviour and ecology, as reported in the PLOS ONE paper.

Range of 6,500 square miles
The new species' range covers about 6,500 square miles in central DRC, in what was one of Congo's last biologically unexplored forest blocks. Although its range is remote and only lightly settled at present, the lesula is threatened by local bush meat hunting.

"The challenge for conservation now in Congo is to intervene before losses become definitive," say John and Terese Hart, who led the project. "Species with small ranges like the lesula can move from vulnerable to seriously endangered over the course of just a few years."

The monkey was described in the September 12 issue of the open access journal PLOS ONE

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/new-monkey-lesula.html

Mai-mai rebels sack Upemba National Park HQ in Democratic Republic of Congo

By Alan Deverell of the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS)

August 2012. The first shots were fired at 6 am on July 21st 2012 by a park guard upon seeing the approach of a group of about 30 Mai-mai from the direction of Mitwaba. The Mai-mai were heavily armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, as well as other automatic weapons. There were shouts for the park guards to lay down their weapons, which they refused, instead choosing to run into the surrounding cover. Long volleys of gunfire followed and there was at least one explosion from the detonation of a grenade. As the firing lulled the Mai-mai began singing and crying out that "Lusinga had fallen."

The speed at which this happened meant that there was no time for the Frankfurt Zoological Society staff to evacuate, so staff barricaded themselves in their rooms. During an initial lull in the firing I was able to gather my emergency bag and make my way into the main building. At this point intense firing began again and continued for another 15 minutes. Some of the Mai-mai fighters could be heard moving around outside the building. The firing began to ease, and at this point I showed myself to a couple of the fighters who immediately broke into cries of ‘muzungu! (Swahili for white man)'. They were not overly threatening, and when I asked them if I could talk to their leader they were only too willing to take me to him.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/upemba-mai-mai.html#cr