Until recently, mountain gorillas have been on an inevitable path to extinction. Recently though, the mountain gorilla has been rebounding, and scientists are asking how the success of the mountain gorilla conservation effort can help us conserve other species.
In 1979, when Sir David Attenborough made his famous encounter with a mountain gorilla family, mountain gorillas were “critically endangered” since there were only around 600 mountain gorillas left at that time. The gorillas cannot survive in captivity, so the only hope for their survival was protecting them in the wild. The gorillas split into two groups, one in the Virunga Forest – which is on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – while the other group is located at the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.
The reason their population went down so much is the same reason why current species are becoming endangered too – being killed by poachers, their habitat being cleared by farmers, and conservation efforts stopped by conflict. Now, there are over 1000 gorillas, and they are now only listed as “endangered”.
“Tourism really does help wild animals if done right,” says Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka “but only if the income from tourism really does flow into the local community.” Although visiting a gorilla family is not cheap at 600 per person, meeting gorillas is something many people want to do, so Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park receives 40,000 visits each year and is surrounded by places for tourists, such as tourist lodges, rest areas, craft stalls, and trekking centers. “When I first started there were only about five lodges, and now there are as many as 70,” says Dr. Gladys. “The lodges have created jobs, the conservation effort has created jobs.”
Since mountain gorillas cannot survive in captivity, the entire forest that they live in has been protected and preserved. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, so saving the entire forest from deforestation and other threats has allowed thousands of species to be saved too.
Although extinction is natural, some species become extinct while others evolve, species are currently becoming extinct much faster, and scientists even estimate that extinction is happening at a rate of at least 100 times the rate before. They warn the world that this is comparable with the event that wiped the dinosaurs out.
In 1979, when Sir David Attenborough made his famous encounter with a mountain gorilla family, mountain gorillas were “critically endangered” since there were only around 600 mountain gorillas left at that time. The gorillas cannot survive in captivity, so the only hope for their survival was protecting them in the wild. The gorillas split into two groups, one in the Virunga Forest – which is on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – while the other group is located at the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.
The reason their population went down so much is the same reason why current species are becoming endangered too – being killed by poachers, their habitat being cleared by farmers, and conservation efforts stopped by conflict. Now, there are over 1000 gorillas, and they are now only listed as “endangered”.
“Tourism really does help wild animals if done right,” says Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka “but only if the income from tourism really does flow into the local community.” Although visiting a gorilla family is not cheap at 600 per person, meeting gorillas is something many people want to do, so Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park receives 40,000 visits each year and is surrounded by places for tourists, such as tourist lodges, rest areas, craft stalls, and trekking centers. “When I first started there were only about five lodges, and now there are as many as 70,” says Dr. Gladys. “The lodges have created jobs, the conservation effort has created jobs.”
Since mountain gorillas cannot survive in captivity, the entire forest that they live in has been protected and preserved. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, so saving the entire forest from deforestation and other threats has allowed thousands of species to be saved too.
Although extinction is natural, some species become extinct while others evolve, species are currently becoming extinct much faster, and scientists even estimate that extinction is happening at a rate of at least 100 times the rate before. They warn the world that this is comparable with the event that wiped the dinosaurs out.
