Virunga Gorillas

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Nearly half of the world's 700-some remaining mountain gorillas�including this infant�live in the Virunga mountains of central Africa, at the intersection of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Virunga National Park, home to nearly 200 gorillas, has become a battleground for militia groups and the Congolese army. Poachers also hunt park gorillas for meat and sale, and locals cut down trees to create charcoal.

In the early 2000s, with the help of dedicated rangers and other measures, the gorilla population rebounded in the Virungas. But in 2007, at least ten apes in Virunga National Park were lost to murder and chaos, and their survival is uncertain.

Rangers in Virunga National Park named this mountain gorilla Kadogo, which means "very small" in Swahili, because of his tiny size at birth. He was also born without hair on his head.

Ranger Innocent Buranumwa, who blogs from Virunga National Park in Congo for National Geographic Society partner WildlifeDirect, writes: "Kadogo is very calm and constantly curious. When I see him he always sits down, folds his arms to rest his chin on his hands, and keeps an eye on me. I never know why he does this."

In July 2007, four members of the Rugendo gorilla family were shot to death in Virunga National Park. Links have been made to the ongoing civil war in the area and the $30 million illegal charcoal trade in the park.

The murdered gorillas were carried out of the park and to a nearby graveyard on stretchers. Virunga rangers, blogging for WildlifeDirect, wrote, "There are no words for what we are feeling."

Karateka, a silverback thought to be around 20 years old, roams the forests of Virunga National Park in Congo on his own. He will have to fight another silverback, and win, in order to claim a family. In the late 1980s, Karateka lost part of a finger to a metal snare.

Baby mountain gorillas catch a ride on their mothers' backs in Virunga National Park. Gorilla families with as many as 30 members have been observed in the park.

This baby mountain gorilla, named Mutazimiza by rangers at Virunga National Park, was orphaned when her mother disappeared after a June 2007 attack on the Kabrizi family, possibly by poachers, warring factions, or people associated with the charcoal trade.

Of the many threats facing the endangered mountain gorilla, habitat loss is one of the most pressing. Trees in the Virunga range are often cut down for charcoal production. Here, a young mountain gorilla takes in the view from a tree branch in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This young mountain gorilla, named Kwibesha, is a member of the Kabrizi family of gorillas in Virunga National Park. Wildlife rangers in the park have had to suspend their monitoring of the gorillas because rebel militias and the Congolese army occupy much of their habitat.

A newborn mountain gorilla takes refuge in its mother's arms in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. Female mountain gorillas give birth about once every four years to a single offspring. What follows is a harsh existence�and, according to researchers, about one out of three gorilla babies does not survive.

Much of the work at the Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda is focused on monitoring gorillas in the Virunga mountains and educating local communities about the species. Most of what is known about mountain gorillas, such as this young ape in Rwanda, has come from research at the center. Renowned gorilla researcher Dian Fossey established it in 1967.

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