Western Lowland Gorilla


Life History Patterns of Female Gorillas

The concept of net energy balance is familiar to all of us: we eat too many calories and we gain weight; we exercise a lot without changing caloric…

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Gorillas, Chimpanzees and Forest Elephants Thrive in the Rio Campo Nature Reserve

Protected areas aim to conserve wildlife - particularly large, charismatic species like gorillas - while benefiting local communities. But in tropical…

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Behavioural Flexibility and Foraging Strategies of Wild Western Gorillas

Tropical rainforests are characterized by seasonal fluctuations in fruit availability with important inter-annual variations in tree productivity.…

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Interspecific Interactions between Sympatric Apes

Gorillas live sympatrically with chimpanzees in most of their distribution area, but there are only a few sites where both species have been…

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Distribution and Habitat Use of Gorillas in the Ebo Forest

Although gorilla distribution and habitat use are fairly well known for many gorilla populations in Cameroon, very little is known concerning the Ebo…

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Lethal Coalitionary Attacks of Chimpanzees on Gorillas in Loango National Park, Gabon

In 2019, in Loango National Park, Gabon, we observed two lethal coalitionary attacks by chimpanzees on gorillas, with each attack lasting approximatly…

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The Struggle for Survival in the Maiombe Forest Continues

The Maiombe National Park (MNP) covers a large part of the Maiombe forest component of Angola, an area of some 1,930 km² in Cabinda Province, an…

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Obituary to Kupe Cowboy

Simon 'Kupe' Ngwese, better known as 'Kupe Cowboy', lived a full life. Born in around 1940, to a poor family in Kupe village, near Tombel,…

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Conservation Efforts and Costs for Monitoring Gorillas at Douguetsi Site, Gabon

Despite the efforts of conservation NGOs and research teams, the expansion of anthropogenic activities such as bushmeat hunting, logging, and…

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Gorillas of the Ebo Forest Threatened by Proposed Forest Management Units for Timber Exploitation

The Government of Cameroon has proposed two Forest Management Units (FMU) for timber exploitation which completely cover the proposed Ebo National…

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A Long-Term Monitoring Programme for Great Apes in Monte Alén National Park

Equatorial Guinea's forests maintain some of the highest levels of biodiversity in Central Africa (Sunderland 2005). Despite its small size, the…

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Stay or leave? Female Reproductive Costs in Western Gorillas

Western gorillas live in social groups that consist of one silverback, several females and immature offspring. Females rely on the silverback who,…

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GRASP & IUCN Great Apes Status Report 2018: Summary

Great ape populations in Africa and Asia are severely threatened by the combined impacts of habitat loss, poaching, illegal trade, and disease. Since…

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Secrets of Western Lowland Gorilla Highly Social Behaviour Revealed

A recent study unveils some of the enigmas associated with the social behaviour of the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) from the…

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First Video Footage of the Elusive Ebo Gorillas in Cameroon

Gorillas were 'discovered' in the Ebo forest in 2002 (Morgan et al. 2003) and since then the Zoological Society of San Diego's Ebo Forest Research…

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Clubs des Amis des Gorilles in the Ebo Forest

The Ebo forest is one of the largest remaining intact forest tracts in the Gulf of Guinea Biodiversity Hotspot (Morgan et al. 2011) and it is in the…

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Give Me Your Dung And I Will Tell You Who You Are

In many primate species individuals coordinate their activities, share space and form groups. But how do groups form, how long can they exist and how…

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New Population Estimate for Western Lowland Gorillas

Kamaya, Loango National Park, Gabon (© Martha Robbins)

In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, Samantha Strindberg, Fiona Maisels and 52 coauthors provide the most comprehensive assessment to…

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Conserving the Ebo Gorillas through Community Collaboration

Cameroon is home to many primate species of high conservation value, including drills, Preuss's red colobus, and gorillas (Morgan et al. 2011). Both…

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One of the Biggest Ape Traffickers of Africa Arrested

Abdourahamane Sidibé, a major wildlife trafficker of Guinean nationality, was arrested on 18 February 2017 in Conakry in a special operation by…

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First Twins Born to Habituated Western Lowland Gorillas

At the end of January 2016 the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas complex in the Central African Republic recorded the first ever western lowland gorilla…

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The "Walk through the Dja"

The conservation action plan for western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees identifies 18 priority landscapes (IUCN 2014). One of them is the…

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Gorilla Habituation for Research and Tourism in Loango

Two components of gorilla conservation are research and tourism. Research provides the baseline information concerning the natural ecological and…

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Seed Dispersal by Western Lowland Gorillas: from Fruits to Seedlings

African tropical rainforests, the second most important biodiversity refuge after the Amazonian basin, host a multitude of plant species. The majority…

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First Videos of Ebo Gorillas

San Diego Zoo Global conservationists working with video traps have confirmed the presence of a small troop of western gorillas in Ebo Forest.…

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African Tropical Forests Are under Stress

Tropical deforestation is well known to have serious negative consequences for biodiversity, terrestrial carbon sinks and the balance of atmospheric…

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New Action Plan for Western Lowland Gorilla Conservation

Priority landscapes for western lowland gorilla and central chimpanzee conservation (Courtesy of Danielle LaBruna and Fiona Maisels)

Most of the world’s gorillas and about one-third of all chimpanzees live in Western Equatorial Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial…

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Community-led Conservation Action in the Ebo Forest, Cameroon

ACTRIFE family photo after the general assembly at Douala

The Ebo forest in Littoral Region, Cameroon harbours a rich biodiversity of primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. The government of Cameroon…

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Using Remote Video Camera Traps for Multi-Species Assessments in Gabon

Camera trap (© Josephine Head)

Accurate population assessments of endangered species are of great importance for determining conservation priorities and measuring the success of…

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Update: Conflict in the Central African Republic

The Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA), located in the southwestern Central African Republic (CAR) and the northern edge of the Congo basin, is…

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Gorilla Group Formation and Dynamics

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…

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Can the Mayombe Forest be Saved?

[Translate to Englisch:] Mayombe: der Wald hinten liegt in Cabinda; vorn Niari, Republik Kongo

The Mayombe forest ("Maiombe" in Angola. "Mayombe" in Congo and DRC, and as agreed in the transfrontier context, and "Mayumba in Gabon), stretching…

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Park Protects Swamp Dwelling Gorillas

Swampy forest with Marantaceae

In 2000, WCS Senior Conservationist, and National Geographic explorer, Mike Fay set off on his now famous MegaTransect through the forests of Central…

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Gorillas in the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve

Approaching the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve

Designated in 1988 under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program, Dimonika Biosphere Reserve is located in the central Mayombe Mountain chain in the…

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Shifting Trend of Ape Trafficking

Wildlife law enforcement operation in East of Cameroon led to arrest of traffickers in gorilla parts. (© LAGA)

In recent years, the trafficking of Afri­ca's apes has evolved into a highly organized criminal activity, but the situation has remained largely…

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The Bambidie Gorillas

Female and offspring in the bai

The Bambidie Gorilla Project (BGP), founded in 2008, aims to preserve a population of western lowland go­ril­las, between the villages of…

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Orphan Gorilla Confiscation in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea is experiencing a dramatic oil-fuelled economic boom which over the last decade has in­creased incomes, encouraged urban migration…

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Guide Refresher Training at Bai Hokou and Mongambe

The Primate Habituation Programme (PHP) in the Central African Republic is an integral part of the conservation activities of Dzanga-Sangha Protected…

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Transboundary Collaboration in Mayombe

The Mayombe area

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…

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Ebo: Clubs des Amis des Gorilles (closed)

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…

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Feeding Ecology of Sympatric Apes

A silverback gorilla looking for fruits in Loango (© Josephine Head)

Examining dietary composition and overlap between species living within the same environment is important for improving our understanding of their…

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Wildlife Trafficking in Gabon

Chimpanzee and gorilla hands confiscated during the operation in January 2011 (© Luc Mathot)

The critical situation of the elephants and the great apes, and their role in the regeneration of the tropical forest, are well documented and…

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Gorilla Killers Arrested in Congo

Hands of gorillas killed by a poacher in northern Congo (© PROGEPP – Projet Gestion des Ecosystèmes Périphériques au Parc National Nouabalé-Ndoki)

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…

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The Aspinall Foundation's Project in Gabon

Sophie with Antsia, Mbundu and Tonga (© PPG Gabon)

Over the last 12 years, UK-charity The Aspinall Foundation has been running a unique western lowland gorilla rehabilitation and reintroduction project…

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Readaptation of an Injured Juvenile

Petit Ngoû before the injury (15 August 2008) (© Chieko Ando)

Since 2003, we have been trying to habituate western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) for the purpose of scientific research in Moukalaba-Doudou…

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Response to Oil Prospecting in Gabon

A hole for the dynamite is prepared. (© Luisa Rabanal)

As the world's oil reserves continue to decline, interest from major petroleum companies in the largely unexploited reserves of African oil increases.…

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Annelies Begas: Limbe 2010

[Translate to EN:] Limbe, Kamerun (© Annelies Begas)

In March/April 2008 I visited the mountain gorillas in Uganda (Bwindi Impenetrable National Park) and Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park). In Kibale…

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Bai Hokou

Shelly Masi with Makumba (© Ngombo Diedone)

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…

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Gorillas of the Ebo Forest - Conservation

Map of the proposed Ebo National Park (© Angela Meder, adapted from a map by Bethan Morgan)

In November 2002 a population of gorillas was "discovered" in the Ebo forest of southwestern Cameroon, less than 100 km north of the Sanaga River…

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Bushmeat Investigation Trip

Logging concessions around the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (© Angela Meder)

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 that…

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