100,000 Gorillas found in Congo

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2008-08-05 08:09pm

(CNN) -- An estimated 125,000 Western lowland gorillas are living in a swamp in equatorial Africa, researchers reported Tuesday, double the number of the endangered primates thought to survive worldwide.

"It's pretty astonishing," Hugo Rainey, one of the researchers who conducted the survey for the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society, told CNN Tuesday.

The last census on the species, carried out during the 1980s, estimated that there were only 100,000 of the gorillas left worldwide. Since then, the researchers estimated, the numbers had been cut in half.

WCS survey teams conducted the research in 2006 and 2007, traveling to the remote Lac Tele Community Reserve in northern Republic of Congo, a vast area of swamp forest.

Acting on a tip from hunters who indicated the presence of gorillas, Rainey said that the researchers trekked on foot through mud for three days to the outskirts of Lac Tele, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the nearest road.

"When we went there, we found an astonishing amount of gorillas," said Rainey, speaking from the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Though researchers did spot some gorillas, they based their estimate on the number of gorilla nests found at the site, Rainey said. Each gorilla makes a nest to sleep in at night.

"This is the highest-known density of gorillas that's ever been found," Rainey said.

Western lowland gorillas are listed as critically endangered, the highest threat category for a species. Their populations are declining rapidly because of hunting and diseases like Ebola hemorrhagic fever, whose symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding.

While the discovery in northern Congo indicates that the gorilla population remains stable in some areas, it is likely that gorillas will remain critically endangered because the threats facing the species are so great, Rainey said.

It always (to me) is awesome when we find out something this important about the planet that we had NO CLUE about.

TithonusSyndrome · Post by **TithonusSyndrome** » 2008-08-05 08:17pm

I guess natural selection-wise, it makes sense; if there's an inhabitable environment for a species that we haven't intruded into, then they're bound to migrate there in order to evade us.

I would've never guessed them to be there in these numbers though.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-08-05 08:22pm

YAY!

Now, how long before the poachers get to them

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2008-08-05 08:23pm

That's excellent news, though I kind of wish humans had never found out about them.

The Vortex Empire · Post by **The Vortex Empire** » 2008-08-05 08:36pm

They shouldn't have made this public. All this does is attract poachers.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2008-08-05 08:39pm

But how else are these scientists going to get name recognition for their discovery then?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-08-05 08:57pm

GOOD news about an endangered species?? What? Are you sure?

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-08-05 09:06pm

As far as I understand it, Gorrilas are mostly killed for bush meat when they are hunted. As almost no one lives in these zones, that isn't as much of a concern. The other big killers are diseases such as ebola and habitat destruction due to logging and such.

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2008-08-06 09:23am

Were the researchers looking for a diamond mind by chance?

In all seriousness, however, excellent news for those concerned about primates.

And poachers won't bother with them. Too hard to go in and get them out. Not very cost-effective.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-08-06 02:19pm

Acting on a tip from hunters who indicated the presence of gorillas, Rainey said that the researchers trekked on foot through mud for three days to the outskirts of Lac Tele, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the nearest road.

Reading is your friend.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2008-08-06 06:14pm

How wonderful that these adorable giants are alive in great numbers and relative safety in a remote are (for now I fear, but most asshole poachers and militia goons would find it hard to get there).

Why fuck are these fuckers eating the poor things?! Didn't AIDS arise in the first place because of this retarded practise?

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2008-08-06 06:15pm

Big Orange wrote:How wonderful that these adorable giants are alive in great numbers and relative safety in a remote are (for now I fear, but most asshole poachers and militia goons would find it hard to get there).

Why fuck are these fuckers eating the poor things?! Didn't AIDS arise in the first place because of this retarded practise?

Uh... no, it started because someone fucked a green tree monkey. Eating gorilla meat has nothing to do with it.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2008-08-06 06:53pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Uh... no, it started because someone fucked a green tree monkey. Eating gorilla meat has nothing to do with it.

Isn't that an urban legend? But eating gorilla meat and (especially) chimpanzee meat would not be recommended, with the latter being a common theory that has recently been confirmed (more or less).

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2008-08-06 07:34pm

So, we're taking them off the endangered list now right? Seems like a healthy population.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2008-08-06 08:46pm

The Vortex Empire wrote:They shouldn't have made this public. All this does is attract poachers.

To where? How specific about just where this is were these scientists? Most people I know working with endangered species are purposefully vauge about where they are working to avoid informing collectors/poachers. "Outskirts of Lac Tele' may be a huge area for all we know without further research into it.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-08-06 10:11pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:
Big Orange wrote:How wonderful that these adorable giants are alive in great numbers and relative safety in a remote are (for now I fear, but most asshole poachers and militia goons would find it hard to get there).

Why fuck are these fuckers eating the poor things?! Didn't AIDS arise in the first place because of this retarded practise?
Uh... no, it started because someone fucked a green tree monkey. Eating gorilla meat has nothing to do with it.

Jesus you're fucking dumb.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2008-08-07 12:58am

Knife wrote:So, we're taking them off the endangered list now right? Seems like a healthy population.

125,000 is not a healthy population. It is merely more healthy than we expected it to be.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2008-08-07 01:01am

I'm not sure if they are talking about merely in that area. Even if they are the number wouldn't be much over 200,000. Still a small population that has a high risk of extinction in the near future.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2008-08-07 03:47am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
CaptainChewbacca wrote:
Big Orange wrote:How wonderful that these adorable giants are alive in great numbers and relative safety in a remote are (for now I fear, but most asshole poachers and militia goons would find it hard to get there).

Why fuck are these fuckers eating the poor things?! Didn't AIDS arise in the first place because of this retarded practise?
Uh... no, it started because someone fucked a green tree monkey. Eating gorilla meat has nothing to do with it.
Jesus you're fucking dumb.

Leave Jesus out of this. Even that guy isn't this dumb.

Apparently the only way to get a blood borne infection is to fuck. So I won;t have to worry about getting AIDS from a money if it bites me, or while butchering one I cut myself. No, I gotta fuck it or get fucked by it.

Darth Lucifer · Post by **Darth Lucifer** » 2008-08-07 03:54am

Knife wrote:So, we're taking them off the endangered list now right? Seems like a healthy population.

article wrote:...it is likely that gorillas will remain critically endangered because the threats facing the species are so great, Rainey said.

Don't think so.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2008-08-07 10:15am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:
Big Orange wrote:How wonderful that these adorable giants are alive in great numbers and relative safety in a remote are (for now I fear, but most asshole poachers and militia goons would find it hard to get there).

Why fuck are these fuckers eating the poor things?! Didn't AIDS arise in the first place because of this retarded practise?
Uh... no, it started because someone fucked a green tree monkey. Eating gorilla meat has nothing to do with it.

Why do you always believe such bullshit, chewie?

I like you, man, but goddamn.

Just THINK about it. Oral hygiene is not the main priority of people who eat bushmeat. Bleeding gums, blood-borne SIV, infected meat... easy. No monkey fucking required.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2008-08-07 12:28pm

To be fair I'm sure that someone somewhere fucked a monkey.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2008-08-07 12:32pm

Knife wrote:So, we're taking them off the endangered list now right? Seems like a healthy population.

Shows how much you know... This is a species with long generation times, living in swamp, which is sub-optimal and vulnerable habitat, the poachers like to kill for meat/fur/sport/chinese medicine, which can be wiped out by Ebola.

How about not?

Jadeite · Post by **Jadeite** » 2008-08-07 06:10pm

ArmorPierce wrote:To be fair I'm sure that someone somewhere fucked a monkey.

Yes, it's happened. I remember an article about an orangoutan being used for that in some southeast Asian country.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2008-08-07 06:16pm

Not surprised. People have been caught fucking dogs and farm animals after all.