It’s not all bad news for gorillas despite the crisis in the DR Congo, there is good news in Nigeria and Cameroon for the worlds most endangered gorilla species. The Cross River gorilla, the rarest of the four gorilla subspecies has a new protected area to protect it. The species is found only in Nigeria and Cameroon is threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation due to farming, roads and burning, as well as hunting for bushmeat.
The new park called Takamanda National Park is a transboundary park that protects the 115 cross river gorillas (a third of the worlds population) and other endangered animals like chimapnzees, drills and forest elephants to wonder freely in both countries. It’s creation represents many years of work led by WCS and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in Cameroon and local communities.
This project is funded by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and the German Development Bank (Kreditanstalt fűr Wiederaufbau Bankengruppe) as part of a 5-year funding program to protect key conservation areas in collaboration with local communities in southwest Cameroon. The initiative is also supported by the World Wildlife Fund, the German Development Service (DED) and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
The cross river gorilla is one of four species of gorillas, the other subspecies include: western lowland gorillas, eastern lowland or “Grauer’s” gorillas, restricted to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and mountain gorillas, made famous by Dian Fossey and George Schaller. Earlier this year, WCS scientists discovered more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas in the northern Republic of Congo. All gorilla species are classified as “critically endangered” or “endangered” by the IUCN Red List.
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