Please Help Gorillas

Please help save gorillas.

Gorillas are one of our closest relatives, sharing an incredible 98% of our DNA. They are highly intelligent and emotional creatures, capable of laughter, curiosity and grief. They can form strong bonds with one another and are capable of leading rich, fulfilling lives.

But in an instant, this can all be taken away from them.

Grauer’s gorillas have seen their populations plunge by 60% in just 25 years due to hunting and habitat loss. They are on the brink of extinction.

Meanwhile, other gorilla species like the mountain gorilla have seen promising signs of recovery, but are still under threat from pressures including hunting and the illegal wildlife trade.

A common scenario sees a mother killed and a young primate torn from its family to become part of the international pet trade – boundless freedom replaced by life in a cold steel cage.

This needs to end.

Fauna & Flora have been supporting gorilla conservation for decades. We were at the forefront of mountain gorilla conservation in the 1970s – responding to Sir David Attenborough’s heartfelt plea to protect their dwindling population in Rwanda – and brave community rangers in the DRC are working tirelessly day to day to help protect Grauer’s gorillas from hunters who surround their last remaining strongholds.

We need your support, so we can continue to enforce the protection of these special species. Just $38 could provide community rangers with essential equipment like boots, a backpack and a torch.

So please, donate now and help save gorillas.

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

Fauna & Flora have been supporting mountain gorilla conservation since 1971, when we set up the Mountain Gorilla Project in response to a heartfelt plea to save Rwanda’s mountain gorilla population from Sir David Attenborough.

This was followed by our work in helping to set up the International Gorilla Conservation Programme in 1991 in collaboration with partners including WWF and the park authorities in the three countries to which mountain gorillas are confined. In 2019, Conservation International also joined the coalition.

While only a few hundred mountain gorillas were alive when our work began, today their numbers are back above 1,000. This is promising news for these great apes, but persistent threats remain and new ones continue to emerge. It is essential that this crucial work continues, so this special species does not slip back into oblivion.

GRAUER’S GORILLAS

In just 25 years, the population of Grauer’s gorillas has plunged by 60%, leaving just 6,800 left in the wild. We have worked to conserve Grauer’s gorillas in their habitat outside of the national parks since 2012. Our vital conservation actions include equipping community rangers and conducting monthly bio-monitoring patrols involving snare removal.

Female Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) in equatorial forest of Kahuzi Biega National Park. South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. Image Credit: Eric Baccega / NaturePL

ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE

Combatting the illegal wildlife trade has been high on our agenda since the 1970s, when we were instrumental in establishing TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. We have been at the forefront of efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade for almost two decades, putting in place effective measures to safeguard wild populations of key species from illegal trade.