issue 48 summer 2017 the gorilla organization A million trees offer hope to save the gorillas’ home Letter from The Gorilla Organization has helped the Virungas villagers in the Congo to plant more than a million trees to protect gorilla habitats and prevent This year’s 50th devastating floods. anniversary of The initiative was driven by Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Organization programme arrival in Africa manager Henry Cirhuza, reminds us how who brought the World Food far we have come Programme (WFP) on board to in the fight to save continue a tree-planting project gorillas from extinction. protecting the delicate ecosystem In the 1980s there were of Kahuzi-Biega National Park. just 250 mountain gorillas in the world The WFP provided more than and it was a daily fight to protect them. 269,000 tonnes of ‘Food for Work’ Today they are rising back towards a for the project’s beneficiaries who Beneficiaries receive training from Gorilla Organization staff thousand, and we are working with then plant out the saplings to communities across central Africa reforest land at the edge of the network of streams that prevent In 2014, Léontine Muduha to halt the decline of the three other park. flooding during the rainy seasons. witnessed first-hand the unforeseen gorilla subspecies. “This should mean people Over recent years, this delicate consequences of destroying the But there is still a gorilla-sized have less reason to go into or system has come under threat, with forest. When the heavy rains came, mountain to climb! Grauer’s (eastern even destroy the forest, which is forest destroyed for subsistence the River Nyalunkumbo was unable lowland) gorilla numbers have gone excellent news for the gorillas”, farming. This provides a short- to cope and 200 people died in from 17,000 in 1995 to just 3,800 says Cirhuza. term solution to the community’s severe floods. today. Western lowland gorillas have The area is not only one of abject poverty, but it has terrible Léontine’s house in Rambira, gone from 150,000 to a few tens of the most biodiverse places on the long-term consequences. where she lived with her seven thousands, and there may be only 300 planet — home in particular to children, and the land she had of the Cross River gorillas. a small population of critically- The project been farming While some gorillas can retreat endangered gorillas — it is protects were flooded high into the mountains, others are also a hugely-important water gorilla and destroyed. stranded in the very midst of conflict catchment area with an intricate habitat Through the and other threats. It’s not just gorillas project, Léontine paying the price: another ranger has learned how protecting gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega to protect herself National Park was recently killed. and her land from Dian Fossey, of course, gave her life flooding, and to protect the gorillas. the community Fifty years on from her arrival in understands the Africa, we can cheer for our mountain importance of gorilla cousins, not because they are respecting the forest. saved, but because we know that The tree-planting working with local communities can project provides save all the gorillas – with the continued short term food help of wonderful supporters like you. supplies, creates much-needed jobs and delivers long-term security both for the communities and the More than a million saplings have been grown in 10 tree nurseries endangered gorillas. Goma, DR Congo www.gorillas.org 1 ...INTERNATIONAL NEWS...INTERNATIONAL NEWS...INTERNATIONAL NEWS... Epic marathon team beat £50k The Gorilla Organization’s team the following Saturday. His six-day are delighted that Rob ‘the Gorilla’ extinction of critically endangered fundraising at the 2017 Virgin Money odyssey was catapulted into the Cumming and his partner, Jenny gorillas in Africa.” London Marathon has raced over the public eye, and Mr Gorilla appeared Parker, raised more than £3,000 Mr Gorilla plans to follow his £50,000 barrier. on This Morning, BBC Breakfast, together, while Simon Cole has marathon achievement with a two- Gorilla supporters Tom Harrison, ITN and even German TV news. delivered more than £1,500. wheeled challenge when he joins the Rob Cumming, Jenny Parker and Tom’s JustGiving page has raised Jillian Miller, executive director at the Prudential Ride London in July, Simon Cane have raised more than more than £48,500, and we’re still The Gorilla Organization, said: “We and he’ll be at the Great Gorilla Run £52,500 since taking part in the counting the additional donations are grateful to all of our dedicated on September 16th. You can join in at marathon on April 23rd. which kept our banana phones London Marathon runners for their greatgorillarun.org. Tom — aka Mr Gorilla — ringing all week. incredible hard work and wonderful crawled and knuckle-walked Completing a full 26.5-mile achievements. Below: Rob ‘the Gorilla’ the marathon route in his gorilla marathon in a gorilla suit is no “All of the money they have Cumming makes his way in costume, finishing the challenge on easy challenge on its own, so we raised will go towards preventing the the London Marathon Gorillas on the web From the Summer of 2017, www.gorillas.org will have a new look. You will not only be able to find all the latest news from our projects, you’ll be able to learn everything you need to know about gorillas in the wild, including the ongoing threats to their existence. Visitors to the site will Tom ‘Mr Gorilla’ Harrison crosses the finishing line with Bill Oddie also be able to follow all the latest developments from out of Africa in our blog from the field, plus an enhanced section on volunteering Uley ape memories and events will teach you how you can get involved The Gloucestershire village which pet until the 1920s, when he was and play your part in saving became home to a live gorilla in 1917 sent to America. Present-day gorillas from extinction. is marking its unusual centenary by Uley resident Vicki Coffey and helping gorillas in the wild through friends have already raised more fundraising activities for The than £500 and they’re planning Gorilla Organization. many more events, including a John Daniel was the Uley gorilla, presentation by Ian Redmond stolen from his family in Gabon as and their own version of the an infant and sold to his adoptive Great Gorilla Run on September John Daniel, the Uley family by a London department 16th. The villagers also hope to gorilla, was kept as a pet store. He lived among the villagers build a statue of John Daniel as a by villagers 100 years ago as a very curious and much-loved permanent memorial. Sip sip hooray! As studies raise a glass to Gorilla Spirits, a have shown, small batch distillery currently silverbacks in making waves for their tasty the wild enjoy gin. Owner Andy Daniels the occasional recently dropped by the London tipple, gorging office to present a cheque of £820 on fermenting to The Gorilla Organization and fruit and getting merry in the has pledged to continue donating Andy Daniels toasts a new forests. So they would no doubt £1 for every bottle sold. Cheers! friendship at Gorilla HQ 2 ...INTERNATIONAL NEWS...INTERNATIONAL NEWS...INTERNATIONAL NEWS... Dian Fossey, the woman who saved the mountain gorillas Fifty years ago an American occupational therapist from Kentucky hiked into the home of the mountain gorilla and decided she had found her calling. Her name was Dian Fossey and she was to change the course of history for this endangered ape and its dwindling habitat. Our chairman, Ian Redmond OBE, remembers his friend and mentor. Dian set out to build on the ground- friend; Dian had watched him grow breaking work of George Schaller, from infancy and thought of him described in his bestseller The Year almost as family. of the Gorilla. Few would have Digit’s death galvanised Dian predicted that, having no training and her supporters to establish as a zoologist and a fear of heights, the Digit Fund, which became she would go on to make the subject the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund her own! and in the UK evolved into The By the time she wrote her own Gorilla Organization. With the best-selling book, Gorillas in the governments of Rwanda, Uganda Mist, the world had come to love and the Democratic Republic of rather than fear these distant hairy Congo, they successfully began to cousins of ours. Half a century on improve protection of the gorillas from her first hesitant contacts with and their forest, educate the public wild gorillas, described vividly in and develop a carefully controlled her monthly reports to the National system of gorilla tourism, despite Geographic Society, we now have political turmoil in the region. a much better understanding of Today, the combined efforts their complex society and their of governments, NGOs and local importance to the local ecology. communities have reduced the The threats to the gorillas in historical threats; the habitat is secure, the 1960s and 70s were mainly cattle no longer enter the park, and poaching, destruction of habitat many traditional hunters have given Few primatologists would be able to get this close to gorillas today. for agriculture and illegal cattle- up poaching to find alternative legal 2017 sees the 50th anniversary of Dian Fossey’s pioneering work grazing — and Dian tackled them livelihoods, helped by The Gorilla head on. In 1976, I joined Dian’s Organization and other groups. But As a result of these activities, the Dr Dian Fossey was a team and experienced first-hand the gorillas face new threats, such mountain gorilla became the only remarkable woman.