If Dian Fossey, the popular zoologist who wrote the book Gorillas in the Mist, were alive, she would surely have every reason to be happy today. And, according to the latest census data, the population of mountain gorillas ( Gorilla beringei beringei ) has doubled in the last three decades.
“This is one of those very rare news in conservation,” explains Martha Robbins, an expert gorilla researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. ” Despite poaching, habitat degradation and civil war, the gorilla population in the Virunga Mountains has doubled.”
To estimate the number of individuals of this endangered species, a field campaign was carried out between 2015 and 2016. The teams kicked more than 2,000 kilometers through the Virunga Mountains in search of footprints and other signs of the presence of gorillas. In addition, genetic analyzes were carried out that took more than 18 months to complete and studied more than a thousand fecal samples, determining that there are at least 186 gorillas unaccustomed to contact with humans. The researchers estimate that the current total population of mountain gorillas in the Virunga volcanoes exceeds 600 copies that would be found distributed in 41 social groups, and 14 of them would be solitary males. To this figure we must add the approximately 400 individuals that live in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in Uganda, for which we speak of a total of more than 1,000 gorillas.
More accurate census methods
The last census had been carried out in 2010 and estimated a population of 480 gorillas. The current figure represents an increase of 26% in a period of just six years, which represents an annual growth rate of 3.8%. Although it is true that the study methods are now much more precise, so it is possible that in previous censuses they had estimated “downward”, the truth is that there has been a real growth in the population, as reported by the Max Institute Planck.
“Genetic analysis of fecal samples allows us to count gorillas without actually observing them,” explains Linda Vigilant, director of the Leipzig laboratory of genetics specializing in primatology. “It will also allow us to obtain more information on how social groups are formed and the changes that occur in them over time.”
“This result is the fruit of the efforts made by the governments of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to conserve endangered great apes and, in particular, the hard work of field personnel,” says Robbins. . “The dramatic increase in the gorilla population shows that efforts made in sustainable tourism, veterinary work and community projects can have a positive impact on one of our closest living relatives.”
Much remains to be done in the Virunga Mountains, for example improving the safety of forest officers and tourists. In the last ten months alone, twelve park workers have been killed, and two British tourists were kidnapped in the latest incident. Because of this, Virunga National Park is currently closed to the public to improve its security protocols and, according to The Guardian , it will not open its doors until next year.
Photo: Martha Robbins, MPI-EVA
