Western Gorillas
Distribution of the western gorillas (© Angela Meder)
Western gorillas generally have a shorter and lighter pelage than eastern gorillas. There are two subspecies: western lowland gorillas and Cross River gorillas. Zoo gorillas are almost exclusively western gorillas.
New Population Estimate for Western Lowland Gorillas
June 2018
In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels and 52 coauthors provide the most comprehensive assessment...[details]
Education Efforts Prevent a "Blackback" Cross River Gorilla from Being Killed
June 2018
In November 2017, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) received a report of a lone male Cross River gorilla sighted near two Nigerian villages (Ofambe...[details]
Strengthening Transboundary Conservation of Cross River Gorillas
January 2018
Restricted to the rainforest region along the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, the Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli is Africa's most...[details]
Conserving the Ebo Gorillas through Community Collaboration
January 2018
Cameroon is home to many primate species of high conservation value, including drills, Preuss's red colobus, and gorillas (Morgan et al. 2011). Both...[details]
One of the Biggest Ape Traffickers of Africa Arrested
July 2017
Abdourahamane Sidibé, a major wildlife trafficker of Guinean nationality, was arrested on 18 February 2017 in Conakry in a special operation by...[details]
A Brief Update on the Proposed Superhighway in Cross River State
July 2017
In March 2016 the Federal Ministry of the Environment issued Cross River State a stop work order pending approval of an environmental impact...[details]
Survey of the Cross River Gorilla at the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Cameroon
July 2017
In January 2014 I started to study the ecology of Cross River gorillas at the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary (THWS) in collaboration with the local...[details]
First Twins Born to Habituated Western Lowland Gorillas
January 2017
At the end of January 2016 the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas complex in the Central African Republic recorded the first ever western lowland gorilla...[details]
The "Walk through the Dja"
January 2017
The conservation action plan for western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees identifies 18 priority landscapes (IUCN 2014). One of them is the...[details]
Gorilla Habituation for Research and Tourism in Loango
January 2017
Two components of gorilla conservation are research and tourism. Research provides the baseline information concerning the natural ecological and...[details]
On a Road to Nowhere?
January 2017
After 16 years of continuous rule under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and record levels of corruption and mismanagement, Nigeria elected a new...[details]
Seed Dispersal by Western Lowland Gorillas: from Fruits to Seedlings
July 2016
African tropical rainforests, the second most important biodiversity refuge after the Amazonian basin, host a multitude of plant species. The...[details]
Improving Law Enforcement Monitoring in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary
July 2016
The Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS) in Nigeria is the western-most Cross River gorilla site and home to about 10 % of the total Cross...[details]
Clean Water for Cross River Conservation; Rangers on the Frontlines
July 2016
In a previous article, we documented bushmeat trafficking out of West/Central Africa for sale in underground markets in Europe and North America....[details]
African Tropical Forests Are under Stress
January 2016
Tropical deforestation is well known to have serious negative consequences for biodiversity, terrestrial carbon sinks and the balance of atmospheric...[details]
Gorilla Folk Filmmaking in the Cross River Headwaters
January 2016
In the Lebialem highlands of Southwest Cameroon, people say that if a hunter kills a gorilla, a person (often a village notable) dies. Connected by a...[details]
Going the "SMART" Way in Nigeria and Cameroon
January 2016
The Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) is new and improved software for measuring, evaluating and improving the effectiveness of wildlife...[details]
Videos with and about Cross River Gorillas
August 2015
Rare Footage of Cross River Gorillas Captured by the Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society set up camera traps in the...[details]
Using Remote Video Camera Traps for Multi-Species Assessments in Gabon
July 2015
Accurate population assessments of endangered species are of great importance for determining conservation priorities and measuring the success of...[details]
Community-led Conservation Action in the Ebo Forest, Cameroon
July 2015
The Ebo forest in Littoral Region, Cameroon harbours a rich biodiversity of primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. The government of Cameroon...[details]
Update: Conflict in the Central African Republic
December 2014
The Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA), located in the southwestern Central African Republic (CAR) and the northern edge of the Congo basin, is...[details]
Gorilla Group Formation and Dynamics
December 2014
Gorillas spend the major part of their life in small social groups led by a mature silverback male. Only young blackback males and mature silverback...[details]
Ebola Reduces Bushmeat Consumption
December 2014
Bushmeat traders in Watt Market in Calabar, Cross River State, South Eastern Nigeria, are lamenting the poor sales of bushmeat since the outbreak of...[details]
Using Technology in the Mbe Mountains
June 2014
The Mbe Mountains form part of an important habitat corridor linking Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to the Okwangwo Division of Cross River National...[details]
First donation by ajoofa
February 2014
On February 6th, 2014, we received the first donation by the T-shirt company ajoofa. Marcus Handvest handed over a symbolic check with the donation...[details]
Geriatric Gorillas
January 2014
December 22, 1956, was a historic day for the zoological world as we welcomed the first successful zoo gorilla birth - a female, eventually...[details]
Can the Mayombe Forest be Saved?
November 2013
The Mayombe forest ("Maiombe" in Angola. "Mayombe" in Congo and DRC, and as agreed in the transfrontier context, and...[details]
Bushmeat Hunting Changes African Rainforests
January 2014
Hunting often devastates populations of large mammals, and this may have impact on other animal and plant communities. In two recent studies (Effiom...[details]
Landslides Hit Afi Sanctuary
January 2014
The Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS) occupies approximately 100 km² in the north-western area of the Afi River Forest Reserve in the northern...[details]
Park Protects Swamp Dwelling Gorillas
July 2013
In 2000, WCS Senior Conservationist, and National Geographic explorer, Mike Fay set off on his now famous MegaTransect through the forests of Central...[details]
Gorillas in the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve
July 2013
Designated in 1988 under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program, Dimonika Biosphere Reserve is located in the central Mayombe Mountain chain in the...[details]
Cameroon Loses a Cross River Gorilla
July 2013
On March 1, 2013, the Cameroon conservation community was taken aback when news reached them about the brutal killing of a silverback male of the...[details]
Renovation of Afi Sanctuary Headquarters
February 2013
We transferred the first funds for project support in 2013: Andrew Dunn, our partner at WCS Nigeria, had asked us to fund the renovation of the Afi...[details]
Guide Refresher Training at Bai Hokou and Mongambe
January 2013
The Primate Habituation Programme (PHP) in the Central African Republic is an integral part of the conservation activities of Dzanga-Sangha Protected...[details]
Orphan Gorilla Confiscation in Equatorial Guinea
January 2013
Equatorial Guinea is experiencing a dramatic oil-fuelled economic boom which over the last decade has increased incomes, encouraged urban migration...[details]
The Bambidie Gorillas
January 2013
The Bambidie Gorilla Project (BGP), founded in 2008, aims to preserve a population of western lowland gorillas, between the villages of...[details]
Gorilla Guardian Update
January 2013
The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is Critically Endangered, with perhaps fewer than 250 individuals remaining within their range,...[details]
New Gorilla Guardians in Cameroon
July 2012
The Cross River gorillas in Cameroon need our help again! We received a request from Christopher Jameson, the Director of the WCS project for the...[details]
Club des Amis des Gorilles
July 2012
An isolated population of gorillas lives in the Ebo forest, Cameroon, between the Cross River gorillas and the western lowland gorillas south of the...[details]
Action Plan for Cross River Gorillas
July 2012
In 2007 IUCN published a five-year (2007–2011) regional Action Plan for the conservation of the Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli (Oates et...[details]
Transboundary Collaboration in Mayombe
July 2012
The Mayombe forest, part of the Guineo-Congolian biome, forms the south-western part of the tropical rainforest in the Congo Basin, and the southern...[details]
Cross River Gorilla Video
May 2012
The Wildlife Conservation Society caught a group of Cross River gorillas on video for the first time - in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon. »...[details]
Ebo: Clubs des Amis des Gorilles
April 2012
Near the Ebo forest, Bethan Morgan and Ekwoge Enang Abwe are starting to develop “Clubs des Amis des Gorilles” in each of the villages closest to the...[details]
Feeding Ecology of Sympatric Apes
January 2012
Examining dietary composition and overlap between species living within the same environment is important for improving our understanding of their...[details]
Wildlife Trafficking in Gabon
July 2011
The critical situation of the elephants and the great apes, and their role in the regeneration of the tropical forest, are well documented and...[details]
Renovation Afi Base
June 2011
Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary is the most westerly of three sites in Nigeria where Cross River gorillas occur, the other two sites being the Mbe...[details]
Tribute to Ymke Warren
June 2010
We are grateful for this opportunity to shed a little light on an exceptional life that was dedicated to the study and conservation of Africa's...[details]
Response to Oil Prospecting in Gabon
December 2010
As the world's oil reserves continue to decline, interest from major petroleum companies in the largely unexploited reserves of African oil...[details]
Approaches to Saving Gorillas in Nigeria
December 2010
Cross River gorillas face diverse threats resulting from high human population densities around the areas they inhabit. Efforts to save these...[details]
Readaptation of an Injured Juvenile
December 2010
Since 2003, we have been trying to habituate western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) for the purpose of scientific research in Moukalaba-Doudou...[details]
Annelies Begas: Limbe 2010
November 2010
In March/April 2008 I visited the mountain gorillas in Uganda (Bwindi Impenetrable National Park) and Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park). In Kibale...[details]
Monitoring Gorillas in Nigeria
July 2010
From March to August 2009, surveys were conducted to evaluate the status of gorillas and other diurnal primates and their habitat at four gorilla...[details]
Bai Hokou
June 2010
The south-western region of the Central African Republic includes one of the most pristine tropical forests in the whole of Africa. Located in the...[details]
Gorillas of the Ebo Forest - Conservation
June 2010
In November 2002 a population of gorillas was "discovered" in the Ebo forest of southwestern Cameroon, less than 100 km north of the Sanaga...[details]
Western Gorilla Life History
December 2009
Gorillas are known among the great apes for their fast life history patterns. In zoos it is common for female gorillas to give birth before reaching...[details]
Alternatives for Hunters
December 2009
As part of our efforts to improve the protection of the critically endangered Cross River Gorilla in Nigeria, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)...[details]
Bushmeat Investigation Trip
December 2009
Republic of Congo: in March 2009 I made a tour of the various markets in Ouesso, and for the first time realized the real ubiquity of bushmeat in...[details]
Gorilla Guardians in Cameroon 2009
December 2009
Faced with the challenge of improving the monitoring of unprotected Cross River gorilla sites in Cameroon, the Gorilla Guardian community-based...[details]
Western Gorilla Tourism
June 2009
Following the widely perceived success of mountain gorilla tourism, there has been increasing interest in developing tourism based on the observation...[details]
Nigeria: Cross River Gorillas
July 2009
Improving Gorilla Protection in the Mbe MountainsCovering an area of about 80 km² the Mbe Mountains is one of three sites in Nigeria where gorillas...[details]
A New Approach to Gorilla Conservation: "Gorilla Guardians"
December 2008
A new community-based approach to the conservation of some of the most remote (and hence least protected) groups of Cross River gorillas is currently...[details]
Important Forest Corridor for Gorillas under Threat
December 2008
The Afi River Forest Reserve is an area lying between two sites in Nigeria where the Cross River gorilla is known to occur - the Afi Mountain...[details]
New Gorilla Population Estimates in Northern Republic of Congo
December 2008
On 5 August, 2008, at the XXII International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced the...[details]
News from Cross River National Park 2007
December 2007
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Construction of a Ranger Post
September 2006
In Bumaji (Cross River National Park) a new patrol post for the ranger was funded by us.[details]
First Observation of the Birth of a Western Gorilla in the Wild
June 2008
On the 4th December 2007, staff of the Dzanga-Sangha's Primate Habituation Programme (PHP) witnessed the birth of a new gorilla infant into the...[details]
Conservation in the Mbe Mountains, Nigeria
June 2008
The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is Africa's most endangered taxon of ape, threatened by bushmeat hunting, conversion of forest for...[details]
Kagwene-Gorillas
June 2008
The government of Cameroon announced on the 3rd of April 2008 the creation of the world's first sanctuary exclusively for the Cross River gorilla,...[details]
Club Ebobo
June 2008
Gorilla populations throughout Western Equatorial Africa are rapidly declining. Illegal bushmeat hunting and the lack of law enforcement are seen as...[details]
The Gorillas of the Ebo Forest, Cameroon
June 2008
Cameroon is an important country for both gorillas and chimpanzees. To the south of the Sanaga River, western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla...[details]
Genetic Analysis in the Cross River Gorilla
June 2007
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Community Conservation in Kahuzi-Biega
December 2006
Nur im PDF des Gorilla-Journals verfügbar[details]
How Insectivorous Are Gorillas?
December 2006
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Construction of a Base Camp
October 2006
In the Mbe Reserve a base camp was constructed with our donation. Related News:News from Nigeria[details]
Habitat Protection for Cross River Gorillas
December 2005
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
The Maiombe Forest in Cabinda
June 2005
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Update on Nigeria: WCS's Work
June 2005
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Bushmeat and People’s Health
December 2004
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
The Gorillas of the Ebo Forest
June 2004
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Protection Strategies for Cross River Gorillas
December 2003
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
JGI in the Mengamé Reserve
December 2003
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
The Role of the Cross River National Park
February 2001
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Human Impact on Gorilla Behaviour
June 2010
Western lowland gorilla tourism exists on a considerably smaller scale than that of the high profile mountain gorillas. Yet the successful...[details]
Affinities of the Ebo Forest Gorillas
December 2005
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Gorillas in the Takamanda Reserve
June 1999
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Cross River Gorilla Subspecies
December 1999
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Additional Support for Cameroon
July 2009
When viewed on a clear day from a rocky mountain top high above the montane forest cloaked slopes of the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, the landscape in...[details]
A GIS Habitat Map for the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon
December 2008
The Cross River gorilla is the most endangered of all great ape taxa, and its rare and increasingly fragmented populations continue to be threatened...[details]
The Power of Local Stories in Lebialem, Cameroon
December 2008
Cross River gorillas are found in isolated forest blocks including the Bechati-Fossimondi-Besali forest area in Lebialem Division, southwest...[details]
Gorillas of Takamanda, Mbulu and Mone
February 2001
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Bushmeat Trade Around Cross River National Park
December 2001
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Good News for the Cross River Gorillas?
June 2002
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
The Gorilla in the Nyanga Tradition
December 2003
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Presence of Great Apes in Bas-Congo
December 2006
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Gorilla Conservation in Río Muni
June 1998
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Gorilla tourism in Central Africa
June 1999
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Obituary: Jordi Sabater Pí
December 2009
The ethologist Jordi Sabater Pí, Professor Emeritus at the Universitat de Barcelona and one of the internationally best-known Spanish scientists,...[details]
Gorilla Studies in Nouabalé-Ndoki
December 1999
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Gorillas in the Odzala National Park
December 1999
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Moukalaba-Doudou
July 2009
Since 1999, a long-term survey of gorillas and chimpanzees has been conducted by Kyoto University in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. The...[details]
PALF
July 2009
The aim of PALF (Projet d'Appui à l'Application de la Loi sur la Faune Sauvage) is the legal protection of endangered species of the Congo Republic...[details]
Possible Goundou in Gorillas
December 2008
It is generally recognised that naturally occurring treponematosis is found in some African nonhuman primates. In addition, bone lesions of...[details]
Wildlife Crime in Cameroon and Operations' Impact
December 2008
Illegal trade in apes is an issue that has suffered from great confusion and lack of knowledge for a very long time. While endless popular bushmeat...[details]
Educational Activities in the Republic of Congo
June 2008
Following on from its success with gorilla reintroductions and protected area management, the PPG (Projet Protection des Gorilles)-Congo has...[details]
Orphan Gorilla Reintroduction
February 2001
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Great Ape Hunting in Lobeke
February 2001
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Conservation of Great Apes in Cameroon
December 2001
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file[details]
Conservation of Western Lowland Gorillas
December 2005
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Wildlife Law Enforcement in Cameroon
December 2004
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Gorillas Frequenting the Mongambe Bais
December 2002
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Tri-National de la Sangha
December 2002
Available only within the Gorilla Journal PDF file.[details]
Shifting Trend of Ape Trafficking
January 2013
In recent years, the trafficking of Africa's apes has evolved into a highly organized criminal activity, but the situation has remained largely...[details]
The Aspinall Foundation's Project in Gabon
June 2011
Over the last 12 years, UK-charity The Aspinall Foundation has been running a unique western lowland gorilla rehabilitation and...[details]
Gorilla Killers Arrested in Congo
June 2011
Two men were recently arrested in the Kabo forestry concession in northern Republic of Congo for hunting a gorilla. The hunt was carried out during...[details]
New Action Plan for Western Lowland Gorilla Conservation
July 2015
Most of the world’s gorillas and about one-third of all chimpanzees live in Western Equatorial Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial...[details]
