It was in the last decades of the 20th century, loss of habitat, disease and poaching in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda has disappointingly led to the decreasing number of the gorillas in the last places where mountain gorillas still live in the wild.
But, things are found to be improving. Thanks to the government efforts to protect the mountainous forest from logging, hunting and other human activities, which started in 1991. And, amazingly, the sincere efforts are bearing fruits.
The only gorilla population in the wild of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is noticeably making a comeback, according to the most recent census. The gorillas continue to thrive with their numbers increasing from just 300 in 1997 to 340 in 2006.
But the number, adding up to the gorillas’ population in the wild does not shoulder-off the worries and the efforts of the conservationists and the government, as the number is still perilously small. And thus, they are still vulnerable to the risk of disease outbreaks or other threats.
Having worked on the census, Alastair McNeilage, a research ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society said,
In Bwindi, which is one of only two populations of mountain gorillas [left in the world], there seems to be a continued small increase.
There are a number of things that could happen just because it’s a small, vulnerable population.
But, he and the researchers fairly hope that the upward trend will keep on with its graph.
So, should we consider that the gentle giants are not still safe in the woods, even when the population’s showing signs of growth?
Photo Credit: esa.int