Should We Consider the Translocation of Gorilla Populations?

In 1986, Juichi Yamagiwa and his team published an article in Primate Conservation after censusing the gorilla population in Masisi, eastern Zaire, and made the following recommendations:
The gorillas and their habitats must be separated immediately and completely from areas of human activity. If the gorillas maintain their present contact with the local people, they can easily become infected by human diseases. If the gorillas continue to range within such isolated habitats, inbreeding will have deleterious effects on their reproductive success. If such complete separation cannot be expected, relocation of the gorillas should be planned as soon as possible. In this case, consideration must be given to the most suitable habitats for them as well as to the effects of relocation on the animals themselves, the fauna and flora, and, especially, other gorilla populations.
The results of our survey suggest that the ecological and external characters of the Masisi gorillas may not resemble those of gorillas in the Virungas or Kahuzi regions but rather those of the Itebero-Utu region. It is said that gorillas immigrated into the Masisi region over the last several decades from lowland forest near the Walikale region. It is recommended, therefore, that any relocation be done to one of the protected areas in the lowland forests. However, in order to respect their genetic, morphological, ecological or behavioural independence, we should not mix gorillas who belong to different local populations, so the best solution for relocation would be to find a suitable unoccupied space near the Masisi region.
Recently I have been informed by the local people of Masisi that the Masisi gorillas have ended to exist. A strong conflict between tribes in the Masisi region in the past 5 years has resulted in severe hunting and complete destruction of the gorillas' habitat in this area. Such a catastrophe might occur anywhere in Zaire. Translocation is not the optimal method to preserve gorillas' genetic diversity and viable populations, but is the most effective one to save endangered populations from becoming extinct. We (scientists) need to organize the international committee urgently to discuss this matter and to decide the future action plan with IZCN (Institut Zairois pour la Conservation de la Nature), local Governments of Zaire and NGOs of various countries.

Juichi Yamagiwa

Prof. Dr. Juichi Yamagiwa has been involved in field work of eastern gorillas since 1978, mainly at Kahuzi-Biega. He studied gorillas at Karisoke in 1981 and 1982 and conducted extensive surveys at Masisi and Itebero from 1987 to 1991. He promoted a cooperative research project on gorillas and chimpanzees at the Tshibati area of Kahuzi-Biega with CRSN and IZCN/ICCN.

Esteban Sarmiento

David Chivers

John E. Cooper

Kelly Stewart and Sandy Harcourt

Translocation overview

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