The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s Work in Congo

In addition to helping the Democratic Republic of Congo’s park and wildlife authority (ICCN) protect mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, we have helped local communities establish nature reserves that protect Grauer's gorillas; established a facility to rehabilitate young Grauer's gorillas rescued from poachers; and launched the Fossey Fund's own Grauer's gorilla monitoring and research project, in a vast landscape to the west of Virunga National Park.

The Virunga Mountains

Mountain gorillas inhabit the forested slopes of the Virunga volcanic mountain chain that straddles the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in central Africa’s Albertine Rift. (A related but separate population of mountain gorillas inhabits Bwindi National Park in Uganda.)

Virunga National Park

The Congo’s Virunga National Park, in the Virunga volcanic mountains, provides mountain gorilla habitat together with Rwanda’s neighboring Volcanoes National Park. Due to armed conflict, the Congo park guards are sometimes forced to evacuate, but persistence saves gorillas.  When possible, the Fossey Fund joins them in anti-poaching patrols.

Protecting Grauer's gorillas in Congo

West of the Viriungas, we work with the Union of Associations for Gorilla Conservation and Community Development (UGADEC), a network of community-based reserves linking two national parks, in a vast area that is home to nearly the entire range of the Grauer’s (eastern lowland) gorilla and to many other rare, important species such as the forest elephant, okapi, and eastern chimpanzee. The Fund has helped the community reserves achieve recognition from the Congo government so they can have the same legal status as the parks while retaining their management role.

The Grauer’s gorillas are estimated to number 5,000 or perhaps even fewer individuals.. Some new populations have been identified recently, though not enough to change their endangered status. They live at a variety of altitudes, not only in lowlands, but not as high up as the mountain gorillas. Due to years of political instability, agricultural expansion, mining, poor economic conditions and other factors, conservation in the area has become critical and the Fossey Fund has committed to helping provide long-term solutions.

A new Grauer's gorilla initiative

Unlike  mountain gorillas, which have been studied in Rwanda at our Karisoke Research Center for more than four decades, little is known about Grauer’s gorillas because there are few habituated groups that researchers can observe.  The Fossey Fund has been building a Grauer’s gorilla research program in the Congo that will allow us not only to assess the numbers and stability of the current population in the region, but also to study and protect them. This program operates mainly in UGADEC member territory and many of the trackers and team leaders we employ are drawn from the reserves.

The Fossey Fund operates three base camps, one in each of  three community-based reserves: Reserve des Gorilles de Utunda et Watsa (REGOUWA), Reserve de Gorille de Punia (RGPU), and Conservation Communautaire pour la Reserve Forestiere de Bakano (COCREFOBA).  From the camps, field staff patrol the surrounding forest, setting up temporary campsites in order to cover greater distances over several days. 

During 2012, the program’s goal was to establish the camps and confirm the presence of Grauer’s gorillas in the community reserves.  Through regular treks in the forest, field staff discovered nest sites, dung, and food remains that indeed indicated that Grauer’s gorillas are ranging in these areas. In 2012, a total of 30 expeditions found 36 gorilla sites. And, they believe they may have found a group of as many as 35 gorillas in REGOUWA! During 2013, the project will focus on selected groups.

Caring for rescued gorillas

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund cares for Grauer’s gorillas rescued from poachers and prepares them to return to the wild, at the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) center, on a site donated by the Tayna Center for Conservation Biology (TCCB), next to the Tayna Nature Reserve. GRACE is operated by a small consortium, including the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, The Disney Company, the Congolese national park service (ICCN) and TCCB.