East African gorillas make a comeback
Good news, ape fans: thanks to conservation efforts, East Africa’s mountain gorillas are eking their way toward not-endangeredness, at least in one national park. While still threatened by war, poaching, and habitat loss, an encouraging 340 mountain gorillas have found Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park at least penetrable enough to live in, according to a World Wildlife Fund analysis of fecal samples. (If we ever tire of green journalism, we’re gonna become gorilla poop analysts.) The census is good news, as it shows the Ugandan population of Gorilla beringei beringei has increased 12 percent in the last decade and 6 percent since 2002. WWF’s Marc Languy declares it a “healthy and well-protected population.” There are about 720 mountain gorillas on the planet, with some 380 living in the Virunga volcanoes area on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With any luck, they’ll soon grow to monstrous sizes and ravage buildings in New York like normal.
