MovieChat Forums > Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) Discussion > Any info about current status of Mountai...

Any info about current status of Mountain Gorillas?

posted 13 years ago by bufster3
3 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone have any current information about the population etc?

I heard on a news show recently that the president of Rwanda is really invested on improving things in the country. He instated a law that requires everyone in Rwanda, including himself and his family, to spend one day per month picking up trash. The country is said to now be one of the cleanest in the world.

I wondered if he was also invested in helping the Gorillas.

[–] megafauna005 13 years ago

GREAT NEWS!! Mountain Gorilla population SOARS!! It's from 380 to 480. It's not THAT much but it's a start! We need to keep it up and get the numbers over a 1000 and try to get some Mountain Gorillas in some breeding programs OUTSIDE Africa like in the southern U.S. where it's warm most of the year like Florida or southern Texas.

Mountain Gorillas are the largest gorillas in the world!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/08/mountain-gorilla-num bers-soar

[–] herbsuperb 10 years ago

Mountain Gorillas are the largest gorillas in the world!

Eastern Lowland is heavier on average. Much like North America's Great Gray Owl (big fraud!) Mountain Gorillas only look bigger because their fur is thicker. Eastern Lowland doesn't have the dense fur, but are typically heavier.

Good news about the numbers. Of course one must remember that a couple dozen poachers with no opposition could easily slaughter 800 gorillas in a short time. Growth rate in the population is about 3-4% per year. The human population growth rate is just about that as well. Sad as it is, these poor creatures are completely at the mercy of human beings at this point, with virtually none living a truly natural life outside of human interference. Perhaps someday.

In other conservation news. The California Condor population has reach around 440, with 220+ in the wild. Up from a low of 22 in 1987 when the last of them were taken out of the wild. Sadly the Golden Eagles won't give them a moment's peace. Many are lost to predation or simply being killed by the eagles. Their naturally low reproduction is making their recovery agonizingly slow.

Whooping Cranes are up to around 600 in the wild and in captivity in multiple independent flocks, some of them migratory. Up from 23 in 1941. An estimated 250 in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population alone. Natural predation continues to be the biggest factor stalling their recovery, but a few have been illegally shot as well. A big storm in Florida a few years ago killed dozens of yearlings in the Wisconsin migratory flock. That was a heartbreaker given all the work that has gone into the effort.

Positive signs, but I fear for the future of these creatures.

[–] adresher 11 years ago

My parents just came back from a Nat Geo trip and their numbers are up, they estimate that there are now 800, they were as low as 400.

Also Digit's grandson is now an alpha male in a group and also a father.

Really cool!