People & Gorillas

In their natural habitat, gorillas come into contact with humans from time to time. Humans have hunted gorillas probably ever since they came to live in the same habitat, but over the past decades the relationship between people and gorillas has become more multifaceted. In some regions gorillas have been habituated to the presence of humans, at first for research, later also for Tourism. This habituation has also led to new Conflicts, in addition to the ones that had been known previously.


Put them in the Ground and Let them Grow: Bwindi Tree Network Project

When traveling on the roads of Rubanda district, Uganda, you see pine trees everywhere: tall ones, short ones, big ones, small ones. Some trees may be…

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When Gorillas 'Rescue' Themselves

On the morning of 19 February 2024, Dr. Lina Nturubika, a field veterinarian with Gorilla Doctors, hiked out from our Tshivanga field station at…

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Ape Trafficking Escalates as Demand Increases in the Middle East and South Asia

Africa's great ape sanctuaries have become inundated with new arrivals, rescued from the collateral damage of the bushmeat trade and targeted…

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The impact of Tourist Visits on Mountain Gorilla Behaviour and Social Cohesion

Gorilla tourism has played a pivotal role in not only fostering the recovery of the endangered mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) but also…

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GRACE Celebrates International Women's Day

The Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center, located in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, is centered on…

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Are Mountain Gorillas still "Wild"?

Everywhere in Africa human influence on gorillas and their habitats has become common. Interventions are severe everywhere, not only by deforestation,…

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Understanding Visitors at Tourist Sites to Protect Great Apes from Disease

Nonhuman great apes (bonobos, chimpanzees, eastern gorillas, western gorillas and orangutans) are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases from…

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GRACE Uses Radio for Conservation Education

The Tayna Nature Reserve, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, is managed in partnership with the local community and is home to the critically…

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GRACE Celebrates World Gorilla Day

It was early morning on 24 September, 2022, but the GRACE Education Team was already on the move. They had been planning for weeks: Zoom meetings,…

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Inspiring the Next Generation

"What makes gorillas special?" It is a question each of us could answer in our own unique way. For some, it's the gorillas' gentle nature and…

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Electric Fence Reduces Human-Wildlife Conflict

"For the past ten years, we had given up on planting maize. Buffalos could raid our farms a few weeks to harvesting and we could make immense losses.…

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Dangerous Selfies with Gorillas

Visiting mountain gorillas is popular, and many of the visitors proudly present proof of their gorilla trekking in social media. However, to obtain…

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Bushmeat and COVID-19; What Is the Connection?

The Simple Connection: Emerging Zoonotic Diseases and Human Health

'Bushmeat' is a term used to refer to wild meat in Africa, where forests are…

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COVID-19 in Captive Gorillas

Several gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. On 6 January, two of the…

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Strengthened Human-Wildlife Conflict Measures Restore Hope in the Virungas

Regardless of the scotching sun and laborious work, a delighted face is the perfect description of Jean Bosco Ntawukibiwabo, as he works on a 3 m deep…

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COVID-19 Pandemic Cripples Community Livelihoods

For many households around mountain gorilla parks, tourism has been their lifeline. That is until the COVID-19 pandemic affected the tourism industry…

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Zoonoses and Apes

Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans. Among viruses alone, there are more than 1,000 human pathogens,…

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Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 on Gorillas at Bwindi

We founded Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) in 2003 to prevent zoonotic diseases being transmitted between people and wildlife following…

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COVID-19 and Gorilla Doctors

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Never before have we understood the concept of One Health more…

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A Tragedy in Bwindi

The silverback Rafiki was killed in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, presumably by poachers. Rafiki was a member of the mountain gorilla group…

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Can Gorillas Be Infected with COVID-19?

Many gorilla friends have already asked themselves this question. So far, the answer is not yet known. However, since many other viruses are dangerous…

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Progress at GRACE Amid Serious Challenges

The past two years have proven challenging for the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center, the world's only sanctuary for…

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Saving Cross River Gorillas in Nigeria through Radio Drama

Hunting, habitat loss and fragmentation are the main threats to the survival of the Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli (Bergl 2012; Imong et…

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A Poaching Categorization Scheme

Great ape conservation experts from the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently…

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Education Efforts Prevent a "Blackback" Cross River Gorilla from Being Killed

Recording a scene of the drama for My Gorilla - My Community (© WCS Nigeria)

In November 2017, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) received a report of a lone male Cross River gorilla sighted near two Nigerian villages (Ofambe…

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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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Community Conservation Is More Beneficial for the Park and Local Communities

This is a quote regularly heard among communities around the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after…

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African Primatologists Form Society

It is widely acknowledged that the long-term conservation of African primates depends largely on Africans themselves, and this requires that Africans…

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Gorilla Folk Filmmaking in the Cross River Headwaters

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…

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GRACE Forest Enclosure

One of the orphans climbs a tree in the new enclosure (© Andrew Bernard)

Located in the Kasugho region of North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), near the Tayna Nature Reserve, the Gorilla Rehabilitation…

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The Work of Art of Conservation

[Translate to Englisch:] Schüler der Rushubi-Schule in Musanze, Ruanda, singen ein Friedenslied

Art of Conservation (AoC) is pleased to celebrate our first 7 years of successful creative learning and community development programs about…

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Conservation Action Plan in Congo

UGADEC region in northeastern Congo

Some of the largest tracts of forest habitat in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are located in the Walikale and Lubutu territories.…

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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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News from Gorilla Genetics

[Translate to EN:] Zoo-Gorilla Pertinax (© Angela Meder)

After the sequencing of the gorilla genome, the authors report unexpected results. The standard view of the evolutionary relationship between the…

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Mondberge visits Ruhija

[Translate to EN:] Gorilla bei Ruhija (© www.mondberge.com)

Uganda, June 2011: After our fascinat­ing hike through the Ruwenzoris and a short safari in the Queen Elizabeth National Park we were looking forward…

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Gorilla Orphans in D. R. Congo

Jan Ramer examines wounds on Ndakasi’s hand. (© Molly Feltner/MGVP)

Mountain Gorilla Orphans

On November 23, 2010, 9-year-old female Maisha and 7-year-old male Kaboko moved from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary…

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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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Human Impact on Gorilla Behaviour

Leanne Van der Weyde viewing the gorillas (© Michelle Klailova)

Western lowland gorilla tourism exists on a considerably smaller scale than that of the high profile mountain gorillas. Yet the successful habituation…

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Relationship of Humans and Gorillas

POPOF’s Artisan Program

The Gorilla in the Nyanga Tradition

Gorillas in African Culture and Medicine