World's rarest gorillas observed in Cameroon
Image - Wildlife Conservation Society
Video camera traps set up by conservationists in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary in Cameroon have recorded footage of some of the world's rarest and most elusive gorillas. The Cross River gorilla is believed to number only 250 specimens left in the wild and is notorious for fleeing immediately upon contact with humans, thus frustrating efforts by field researchers to study them and determine their numbers.
The footage, which is nearly two minutes long, records eight of the critically endangered gorillas in their natural habitat and Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Takamanda Mone Landscape Project Christopher Jameson has noted that “A person can study these animals for years and never even catch a glimpse of the gorillas, much less see anything like this." The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary was founded exclusively for the purpose of protecting the Cross River Gorilla by the Cameroonian government in 2008 and is the only place where the Cross River gorilla's movements are monitored on a daily basis.
Commenting, Executive Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Africa Program Dr. James Deutsch said "Spectacular footage such as this, which we've never had before for Cross River gorillas, is absolutely vital to inspire local people, the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon, and the global community to care about and to save this unique subspecies...Continued research of this kind will help fine-tune management plans to protect this rarest of apes."
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