They live in close-knit family groups, led by a dominant silverback male. The social dynamics of this species is also fascinating. From creating umbrellas out of leaves to using sticks for various tasks, these gorillas are unparalleled in their cognitive abilities. They can problem-solve and use tools with ease. Their arms are incredibly strong, enabling them to swing from branch to branch and even uproot small trees.īut their intelligence is what sets them apart. On average, they weigh 400 lbs and stand 5-6 ft tall. The focus of conservation efforts must now be on supporting local community management of the Oku forests to protect gorillas and their habitats from outside threats.Western Lowland Gorillas are amazing! They possess immense strength and power. More than 80 percent of the world's supply of coltan - used in many electronic devices and electric cars - is found in the DRC, including much of the Grauer's gorilla habitat.
Furthermore, expansion of mining in the area brings further pressures on gorilla habitat and from hunting of gorillas for food to feed the burgeoning mining towns. The civil war in DRC and continued presence of armed rebel groups have made conservation exceedingly difficult. We must secure these forests to safeguard Grauer's gorillas and other primates." They face growing pressure from habitat destruction from mining and poaching for food. Said Deo Kujirakwinja, co-author and WCS DRC Technical Director: "Without good protection and forest management, Grauer's gorillas would be on the brink of extinction. Additionally, WCS is working with these communities, the Government's Nature Conservation Agency, ICCN, and the local NGO Reserve des Gorilles de Punia (RGPu), to create an additional Wildlife Reserve in the Oku forests to secure up to 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of forest for gorillas and other flora and fauna in this area. In 2018, three local community forest concessions comprising a total area of 1,465 square kilometers (565 square miles) were created and attributed to community management in Oku. They note that the Oku community forests probably has more Grauer's gorillas than any other site across its range, and together with the Kahuzi?Biega National Park is the last stronghold for this ape. The authors say that the results of the study underscore the importance of good forest protection in the region. Grauer's gorillas are a subspecies of eastern gorilla found only in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and can weigh over 450 pounds (204 kilograms). Many other primates have declined however, likely due to bushmeat hunting, especially the Endangered Ulindi River Red Colobus ( Piliocolobus lulindicus). "We show that gorillas and chimpanzees are avoiding areas where people are extracting minerals, an occupation that contributes to the insecurity in the region"Īdditionally, there is good news for chimpanzee populations, which have also held steady over the past twenty years. Andrew Plumptre, Key Biodiversity Area Secretariat hosted by Birdlife International, who conducted the research while with WCS. It is a tribute to the courage and dedication of the Congolese biologists who took part, often at great risk from the ongoing insecurity." said the study's lead author Dr. "This is one of the most extensive surveys ever of this great ape, carried out under very difficult circumstances. Gorilla populations in the Oku forests and the highland sectors of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park have remained relatively stable over the past 20 years, highlighting the importance of these areas for the future of this subspecies.
The findings also provide hope for the conservation of Grauer's gorilla in this challenging area. These new findings still maintain Grauer's gorillas as Critically Endangered, but suggest declines were not as great as previously feared. The 2021 population estimate includes new field surveys in the Oku forests conducted over the past four years and provide the most up to date assessment of the subspecies to date. However, due to insecurity, the 2016 estimate did not include data from all areas of the Grauer's gorilla range. Publishing in the American Journal of Primatology, the authors found a total of 3815 Grauer's gorillas remaining in Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the contiguous Oku community forests These two areas hold almost 60 percent of the global population.Ī previous peer-reviewed paper led by WCS in 2016 showed a decline of almost 80 percent in the population of these gorillas since the last range-wide survey carried out in the mid-1990s.
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