You may have seen the desperate plight of the mountain gorillas on the recent BBC documentary with David Attenborough called ‘Africa’. These majestic creatures only exist in two places on earth. Sadly, their habitat is disappearing because of deforestation for agriculture and livestock. They are being driven higher and higher up into the mountains. As they live closer to humans than ever before, they are more and more susceptible to human diseases.
These mountain gorillas are on the WWF critically endangered list. Just more than half of the tiny population of mountain gorillas live in the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. They are such a critically endangered species that it was recently thought that they would not survive into the 21st century.
Good news for mountain gorillas
Thanks to the WWF and supporters like you, their overall population of 880 has increased from the 786 estimated in 2010. The current WWF campaign is a big fundraiser on Ulule.com to help rangers in their daily battle to protect gorillas. If the fundraising goal is reached within 27 days, a group of 7 rangers can be hired for 4 months at the Virunga Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What can you do to protect the mountain gorilla?
- Click here to support the WWF fundraising campaign
- Find out more about the mountain gorillas and tell your friends and families why they are so important to protect.