Africa's population of mountain gorillas rises to 880, giving hope to conservationists
KAMPALA, Uganda - A census of mountain gorillas in Uganda reveals their population has increased to 400, up from 302 in 2006, bringing the total number of mountain gorillas in Africa to 880 and giving hope to conservationists who are trying to save the critically endangered species.
Uganda is now home to nearly half of the mountain gorillas remaining in the wild. The rest are in Congo and Rwanda.
The group Gorilla Doctors said in a statement that the population growth is partly due to "extreme conservation" methods such as daily ranger monitoring in the forest.
Mountain gorillas are a major source of tourism revenue for the Ugandan government, which in recent times has been able to successfully work with local communities who used to be hostile to the animals.
