The mountain gorilla - one of our closest relatives - is symbolic of so many of the threats facing wildlife. Discovered (to European science) in 1902 and under serious threat of extinction throughout most of the remainder of the last century, people were traditionally terrified of it. Yet the mountain gorilla is peaceful and very vulnerable to interference, habitat loss and poaching. It is also an indirect victim of human war and human poverty.

At a glance
Mountain gorillas live in high-altitude forests in central Africa, on the borders between the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northwest Rwanda and southwest Uganda. The region's growing human population results in forests being cleared for agriculture and firewood.  This causes major problems for the gorilla.

What is the threat?

• As they are closely related to humans, gorillas are vulnerable to many of the same diseases. Because the gorillas have not developed the necessary immunities, first-time exposure to a virus may devastate an entire population. Any human contact is potentially harmful, even life-threatening.
• Hunting the mountain gorilla in order to capture babies 'commissioned' by unscrupulous dealers remains a very real threat.
• Gorillas also get killed or injured by snares, which are set by poachers to catch antelope, bush pigs and other wildlife. 
• The region's ongoing conflict and civil unrest are also an ever-present risk, while illegal mining in DRC has had a devastating effect on all wildlife, including gorillas. At the same time, a feeling of disenfranchisement among local communities also poses serious challenges.
  

‘The only way to maintain gorilla habitat is to help local residents to see gorillas as a means of improving their own situation, rather than as competitors.’

What are charities doing to help?
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme(IGCP) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) are working to protect the mountain gorilla.

More on IGCP
The IGCP works in close partnership with the park staff, providing equipment and training to rangers. It also works very closely with the communities who live around the gorillas, to improve their livelihoods and encourage their support for gorilla conservation.

The people living near the forested slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest are generally subsistence farmers, living below the poverty line and wholly dependent on agriculture. Gorilla tourism brings in vital foreign capital, and the gorillas’ mountain forests grow the main exports of tea and coffee, as well as the subsistence agriculture that sustains the greater proportion of the population. Remove the forest and the gorillas, and you have economic disaster and mass famine.

IGCP helps locals devise new ways of earning a living that don’t have a negative impact on the gorilla’s habitat.  For example, beekeeping, cultivation of medicinal plants, and mushroom production.

What can I do?

• Don’t upgrade your mobile phone if you don’t have to. A mineral called coltan - a basic component of cell phones - is mined in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, causing habitat loss and encouraging the bushmeat trade.  When you do upgrade, make sure you recycle your old handset.
• You can also help by donating to the BBC Wildlife Fund.
   

Did you know?

• Mountain gorillas have an estimated 12 different vocalisations. The ‘belch’ is considered a contact call to keep the group informed of an individual’s whereabouts in the dense vegetation as well as a sign of contentment while foraging.
• When they sleep at night, gorillas prepare a nest on the ground using non-food plants. Mothers share a nest with their babies.
• The adult male is known as a ‘silverback’ because he develops a silver spray of hair across his back and hips.
• The gorilla’s closest relative genetically is the chimpanzee (who is also our closest relative in the animal kingdom).