In August we learned that western lowland gorillas are doing better than we thought they were. Today Agence France Press reports that in spite of war on the Congo, a recent survey of gorillas found five newborns in one family group.
BUKIMA, DR Congo (AFP) -- High above the war-battered plain, a giant silverback gorilla ruminatively strips a plant of its leaves with green tombstone teeth. Five females nearby suckle their babies. The world can celebrate a small miracle in eastern Congo.To make the survey happen de Merode had to negotiate directly with the rebel leader who had taken control of Virunga national park in 2007. The bravery and dedication of rangers willing to return to the park under these conditions is extraordinary.
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The infants are all war-babies, born in the 15-month period since CNDP rebels wrested control of the eastern gorilla-sector of Virunga national park from government forces in September 2007. The rangers they chased away lost all contact with park, home to 200 of the world's last 700 mountain gorillas.
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Friday's discovery "doesn't confirm anything about the population as a whole. That's what we're worried about and we'll only know that when the survey is completed in about three weeks' time," cautioned [Park director Emmanuel de] Merode, adding that only two of the seven family groups in the park had been located to date.
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