World's Largest Primates Endangered

The world's largest primate, Grauer's gorilla, faces warfare and worrying extinction due to illegal hunting and mining. Its endemic populations have rapidly reduced by about 77 % in the last two decades, shows the latest study from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).

There were some familiar apes, such as the eastern lowland gorilla, but now these iconic apes inhabit conflict-plagued Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They are close relatives of the mountain gorilla, G. beringei beringei, which resides in the montane forests of the Albertine Rift.

In 1998, the primate population counts totalled 17,000, but today the study shows only 3,800 Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) in the wild.

"The crash in the gorilla population is a consequence of the human tragedy that has played out in eastern DRC," explained Jefferson Hall, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. "Armed factions terrorize innocent people and divide up the spoils of war with absolutely no concern for the victims or the environment."

Weighing 400 pounds, Grauer's gorillas are the biggest apes in the world. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 drove hundreds of thousands of refugees into eastern areas and sparked off a civil war from 1996 to 2003. With increased mining and foraging for food by miners, the gorillas are threatened.

Scientists used an innovative technique to gather information collected by local communities and forest rangers. They were able to accurately identify populations of Grauer's gorillas.

Being at a great risk of extinction, the primates were recommended  to be on the critically endangered list in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

A lot of funds and effort is required to be invested into reversing the gorilla's situation. The militias in the eastern DRC need to be disarmed, along with the control over illegal mining and poaching. They need to enhance the existing protected areas.

"Human dignity and welfare are inextricably linked to the dignity and survival of wild animals like Grauer's gorilla and the ecosystems that sustain them," said  Andrew J. Plumptre, lead author of the study. "The outcomes of regional armed conflict have a global impact on our survival. The activity of armed militias controlling mining camps in the Grauer's gorilla heartland is likely to eliminate the Grauer's gorilla entirely. Conservationists are pushing for the establishment of the Reserve des Gorilles de Punia and the Itombwe Reserve, which has strong community support, along with the reinforcement of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, arguing that this would make a huge difference for the gorillas."

Their findings were recently published by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Flora and Fauna International and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature.