Gorillas : Threatened Giants

Uganda presents this amazing artwork Threatened Giants. Thanks to the six floristic regions that it covers, this country is one of the African nations with the richest animal biodiversity.

In the southwest part of Uganda, in a mountain chain called the Virunga Mountains, lives the only population of mountain gorillas in the world, a sub-species of the eastern gorillas. According to the World Wildlife Federation, no more than 800 individuals of this subgroup are to be found in these mountains that Uganda shares with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

However, the mountain gorilla is not the only type of gorilla whose future is threatened. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, all species and sub-species of gorillas are either endangered or critically endangered.

Gorillas have a relatively extensive vocabulary, containing about 25 distinct sounds. They manage to communicate with each other not only through these “words”, but also through gestures and even mimes.

The famous researcher Dian Fossey greatly contributed to increasing our knowledge about gorillas. In the 1960s - 1980s, she made several trips to the Virunga Mountains and was eventually accepted by the mountain gorillas living there. She was murdered not long after Christmas of 1985 in these same mountains.

All species and sub-species of gorillas are either endangered or critically endangered. Photo : © ProvinceQuebec.com