On World Wildlife Day, we are reflecting on the incredible importance of our planet’s diverse species. Here at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, we are lucky to focus on the magnificent gorillas. They are an integral part of the forest ecosystems they inhabit and play a crucial role in the health of our planet.
Did you know that there are four subspecies of gorillas and all are endangered? At the Fossey Fund, we carry out daily protection of mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes mountains of Rwanda. And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we protect critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas, which live in the remote primary tropical forest of the Congo Basin.
The other two gorilla subspecies are the western lowland gorilla and the rarest of all great apes – the Cross River gorilla – with a tiny population of only a few hundred individuals.
Gorillas protect important forests
We protect critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas deep in the forests of the Congo basin.
Gorillas consume a wide variety of plants, eating many different parts of each. Their feeding habits help regulate the growth of certain plant species, ensuring that no one species dominates and that the ecosystem remains healthy. Gorillas even contribute to seed dispersal, which aids in the regeneration of forests. As they eat certain plants, seeds pass through their digestive systems before being deposited elsewhere, helping to expand plant life across their habitat. Without gorillas, many plant species would not flourish, affecting the entire food web.
Gorillas live in biodiverse ecosystems
Gorillas are essential in maintaining the biodiversity of their habitats, which include a wide variety of other animals and plants. Fossey Fund scientists regularly monitor and study other important species in the gorillas’ ecosystems, including endangered golden monkeys, many species of birds and amphibians, various plant pollinators, and selected plants like bamboo, which is a favorite food of both gorillas and golden monkeys.
Chimpanzees are among the other endangered species in the remote Congo forests where Grauer’s gorillas live.
Gorillas have much to teach us
Through our nearly 60 years of studying gorillas’ behaviors on a daily basis, we have come to know the lives of these unique apes in great detail, gaining insights that are important to their survival and that also offer a unique window into understanding human life and evolution. As one of our closest living relatives — sharing approximately 98% of our DNA – studying gorillas helps us explore the deepest roots of human behavior, social structure and more, offering many insights into the development of our own species.
A world of wildlife
As we celebrate the importance of gorillas on this World Wildlife Day, it is also worth noting that our daily gorilla protection also helps a variety of other wildlife, including many species that are also endangered, threatened or vulnerable, including the golden monkeys, elephants, chimpanzees, leopards, pangolins and more. Including the gorillas, the Fossey Fund works to conserve and protect at least 25 species on the “red list” of threatened species, an extinction risk inventory compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
