Great ape in grave danger as poaching wave causes population to plummet by 60%
Eastern lowland gorillas are one of our closest relatives, and yet they have been hunted to the brink of extinction.
They are critically endangered, and unless we take urgent action, 97% of the entire population could be lost by 2054.
Please donate now and help put an end to gorilla hunting. With your support, we can provide them with the protection they desperately need.
What is the biggest threat to eastern lowland gorillas?
Hunting for wild meat has been the biggest driver of this great ape’s decline. Wild meat is in increasingly high demand in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – the only place in the world where eastern lowland gorillas can be found.
Habitat destruction and forest fragmentation are also threats to eastern lowland gorillas, and their home in the DRC has been plagued by conflict for years.
Forests in the eastern region of the DRC are being ripped apart for agricultural conversion, logging and artisanal mining operations – all of which have led to a dramatic decline in eastern lowland gorilla numbers.
Silverback Eastern lowland gorilla. © Karl Ammann / Nature Picture Library
Eastern lowland gorilla numbers are plummeting and we have a fleeting window to put protection in place before we lose them forever.
What is Fauna & Flora doing to save eastern lowland gorillas?
Fauna & Flora is helping to put community rangers into the field to stop poaching and protect eastern lowland gorillas.
But we need to do more.
Through your donations, Fauna & Flora needs to train and equip these professionals so they can conduct patrols through the jungle, scouring the forest to dismantle snares and monitor gorillas.
These rangers move through thick jungle for days at a time, crossing rivers and climbing mountains, constantly battling against dense foliage and camping out in torrential rain.
What do rangers need?
Rangers need boots, packs, first– aid kits, camping gear and rations to help them to safely navigate the forest, as well as GPS kits to help specialists coordinate their movement.
On top of that, patrol leaders need the funding to pay their rangers a decent and deserved wage. The passion and commitment of these field teams – made up entirely of local people – is inspiring. It’s crucial we give them the resources they need to get the job done.
Once these rangers are kitted out and on the move, they work to deter poaching, dismantle snares and track vulnerable gorilla groups, helping to keep them safe.
What your gift could do
£97
would help pay for crucial surveys of gorilla habitat.
Credit: Simon Rawles/WWF-UK
£47
would help pay for a GPS unit, to allow community rangers to navigate the forest.
£29
would help pay for equipment for one community ranger, including waterproofs, boots, a backpack and a torch.
How could my donation save eastern lowland gorillas?
If we’re going to scale up protection for these animals and cover even more of the gorillas’ home range, then we urgently need donations from people like you. Those donations could help to buy more protective equipment for new community rangers to carry out essential patrols in the hazardous forests of the DRC.
Your donations could also help to train members of the local community to become new rangers and provide specialist technology to map out the area. They could help buy camera traps to monitor the areas where the gorillas are most under threat and help pay for awareness activities with local communities to deter gorilla poaching in the first place.
Rangers in the rainforest of the Virungas, DRC. Credit © Juan Pablo Moreiras / Fauna & Flora International
Donations are crucial to keep rangers properly equipped as they patrol the forests.
Why Fauna & Flora?
Fauna & Flora is one of the most effective conservation organisations on the planet. We have over a century of experience working in Africa, including in challenging and dangerous regions like the DRC.
If we’re going to save eastern lowland gorillas from extinction, our experience of forest patrols and working with local governments and communities will be invaluable, but your support will be utterly indispensable.
“If you value the natural world – if you think it should be protected for its own sake as well as humanity’s – then please support Fauna & Flora.”
Sir David Attenborough, Fauna & Flora Vice President