April 2020 | SMITHSONIAN 33In Virunga
National Park,
a 23-member
group, Kabirizi,
named for the
lead silverback,
included seven
adult females
and seven
infants.the world, renewing speculation that the mountain
gorilla might not survive the rapaciousness of its pri-
mate cousin, Homo sapiens.
And yet: Despite a 20-year civil war in the Dem-
ocratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has killed
millions of people, relentless poaching and an ex-
ploding human population, the mountain gorilla is
making an amazing comeback, thanks to the selfl ess
commitment of countless Africans. In 2008, fi eld
surveys estimated 680 mountain gorillas. Today, ac-
cording to the most recent studies, there are 1,063.
The new data prompted the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to change the moun-
tain gorilla’s status, from critically endangered to
endangered.
“These population survey results signal a real re-
covery,” says Anna Behm Masozera, director of the
International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP),
based in Rwanda. “This doesn’t mean we’re in the
clear. These are still very fragile populations. But the
increase is incredibly encouraging.”
Living in cloud forests at 8,000 to 13,000 feet,
mountain gorillas are entirely covered in long black
fur, an adaptation to cold that distinguishes them
from lowland gorillas. Their habitat is limited to just
300 square miles, divided between two locations.