Results of the Virunga Mountain Gorilla census were released putting the figure at 604, from 480 individuals in 2010. The results show that the total population of Mountain Gorillas has surpassed the 1000 mark. The other place where mountain gorillas are found is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Southwest Uganda. According to the 2011 census, Bwindi has over 400 individuals. A new census is underway in Bwindi, to establish the current population of the gorillas in the National Park.
A recent survey documented 604 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), the largest number of mountain gorillas ever recorded in the transboundary Virunga Massif, one of the two remaining areas where this Critically Endangered great ape is still found.
When combined with the published figure of 400 mountain gorillas from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, as of 2011, an estimated 1,004 mountain gorillas existed in the wild as of June 2016. In the area encompassing the Mikeno Sector of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, referred to as the Virunga Massif, 604 individual gorillas were found in 41 groups and as 14 solitary males.
This is compared with an estimated 480 individual gorillas in 36 groups and as 14 solitary males from a survey of the same area in 2010. As in the previous mountain gorilla census in 2010, survey teams walked pre-determined “recces” (reconnaissance trails) ensuring a thorough coverage of all forest areas to sweep the Virunga Massif from the southwest to northeast and search for signs of gorillas, other key mammals, and illegal activities.
When fresh gorilla signs were detected, the teams followed the gorilla trail to locate three recent night nest sites. At each of these nest sites, the teams collected fecal samples from nests. However, during this past census in 2015-2016, the survey effort was doubled by sweeping the Virunga Massif twice; first from October to December 2015 (57 days) and second from March to May 2016 (59 days).
A second sweep allows to find gorillas that were undetected during the first sweep and thus provides more reliable numbers of gorillas. Fecal samples were analyzed genetically to determine individual genotypes. The survey teams also collected data on signs and sightings of select mammals, such as elephants, and illegal activities, such as snares. While exercising caution due to the limitations of the study, there were no indications of declines in populations for the select mammals surveyed, including elephants, since 2010.
The survey was conducted by the Protected Area Authorities of DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda (l’Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, the Rwanda Development Board and the Uganda Wildlife Authority, respectively) under the transboundary framework of the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration, and supported by many partners and various donors. The increase in mountain gorillas inhabiting the Virunga Massif is attributed to the effectiveness of conservation policies, strategies, notably regulated tourism, daily protection and veterinary interventions, intensive law enforcement, community conservation projects, and transboundary collaboration among government institutions and NGO actors.
