Year of the Rat, Week of the Gorillas

Last week it was elephants, this week gorillas, another of the so-called "charismatic megafauna" (a terrific phrase) that call attention to global issues of conservation and the environment. We begin with a reminder to check out Expedition Rwanda on Yahoo, one of the best episodes in the regrettably short-lived Richard Bangs Adventures.

In it, Greg Cummings of the Gorilla Organization points out that the best way to save an endangered species is to get the people of the country involved in their preservation. He sees that happening in Rwanda, where the attempt to create what he calls "an all-singing, all-dancing, gorilla-loving nation" is succeeding. (The phrase seems a bit, well, patronizing, but the intentions are good, I'm sure.) Daryl Hanna, a well-known animal rights advocate in Hollywood circles, was along for the journey, so if nothing else it's worth following the story for her celebrity involvement, since that seems to be what it takes these days to "drive eyeballs." Must be harder than herding cats.

Meanwhile, in Dakar, Senegal, conservationists announced the birth of a rare mountain gorilla in eastern Congo, where rebels have been accused of killing and eating the endangered animals. (See MSNBC story) This follows upon an earlier wire story, of Congolese rebels calling a "cease-fire," to " to stop killing mountain gorillas and allow government rangers to restart patrols." Now all this sounds like good news, but clearly it's a case of "do you want the bad news (gorillas under fire) or the worst news (local civil war)?"

Just in case you forgot, there are two main species of gorilla (western gorillas Gorilla gorilla and eastern gorillas, Gorilla beringei), and a couple sub-species in the mix. The mountain gorilla, rarest of the genus (Gorilla beringei beringei for those keeping score at home), numbers fewer than 1000 individuals, split between two ranges in the Virungas of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the euphoneous Bwindi Impenetrable Forest of Uganda. There are many more lowland gorillas in captivity than mountain gorillas, but that's not saying much. Check out Wikipedia for more info.

A good place to see gorillas domestically is the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Now I don't like zoos, none of us do, but it's a necessary evil if the alternative is extinction. I made a recent visit there to see another ape species, the bonobo or the "gracile chimpanzee" as some call it, subject of one of Frans Lanting's photo projects. If you're into this sort of thing, the SDZoo has a podcast stream on the gorillas, and many other topics besides.

You can learn more about mountain gorillas at the American Wildlife Foundation, which sponsors programs to adopt and protect this and other species.