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Gorilla Conservation
Western lowland gorillas have been classified as endangered for over 10 years and their falling populations are being decimated further by habitat loss, disease and poaching. There are estimated to be just 100,000 gorillas left clinging to existence in the wild.
© ZSL - Noelle KumpelAs human populations grow and rainforests shrink, conservation becomes a complicated balancing act. For hundreds of thousands of years, the forest has supplied the needs – including food and medicine – of the people who live there.
Locals rely on the animals of the forest for meat and hunt a variety of species known collectively as bushmeat. Without bushmeat, their diet would be short of protein. Eating bushmeat is just like eating wild salmon or wild rabbit – it’s just that the animals are different.
In recent years, bushmeat hunting has seen a commercial increase that has reached an unsustainable level. More efficient hunting techniques combined with easy access to deep forest areas via roads built for the logging and mining industry means many species can’t reproduce fast enough to recover the loss from mass hunting. Although not all tribes eat gorilla meat, many have a high regard for it which means gorillas are extremely vulnerable – their meat has even been found in markets here in London as part of the burgeoning international bushmeat trade. Desktop Gorilla move - king kong
Bushmeat is a complex research topic. It is now illegal to hunt endangered species, or to hunt in protected areas although it is so difficult to regulate it presents the risk that forests themselves could be saved for the future, but bare of animals. There are also ethical questions to reconcile when working in this environment. Is it right to stop people driven by poverty and hunger from hunting to feed their families?
ZSL researchers are trying to understand the problem by exploring the scale and traditions of the bushmeat trade and find solutions that work for both people and wildlife.
The ZSL Bushmeat and Forest conservation programme has a number of field projects including one in the heart of Africa, at Mikongo conservation centre in Gabon. ZSL is working with local people there to build an ecotourism venture, taking tourists deep into the forest where they may see gorillas in the wild. Setting it up may take years, as the gorillas need to get used to having humans around, but the results are rewarding with an area of forest and its wildlife protected, while also providing an income for local people. The project also monitors the health of the wild gorillas that it is working with - crucial as an Ebola epidemic has killed many great apes.
