Rare gorillas in Nigeria captured on camera with babies
Source: AP
By CARLEY PETESCH
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Conservationists have captured the first images of a group of rare Cross River gorillas with multiple babies in Nigeria’s Mbe mountains, proof that the subspecies once feared to be extinct is reproducing amid protection efforts.
Only around 300 Cross River gorillas were known to be alive at one point in the isolated mountainous region in Nigeria and Cameroon, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which captured the camera trap images in May. More color images were recovered last month.
John Oates, professor emeritus at the City University of New York and a primatologist who helped establish conservation efforts for the gorillas more than two decades ago, was excited about the new images.
“It was great to see ... evidence that these gorillas in these mountains are reproducing successfully because there have been so few images in the past,” he told The Associated Press. “We know very little about what is going on with reproduction with this subspecies, so to see many young animals is a positive sign.”
This photo taken by a camera trap shows a group of Cross River gorillas in the Mbe Mountains of Nigeria on Monday, June 22, 2020. Conservationists have captured the first images of a group of rare Cross River gorillas with multiple babies in the Mbe mountains of Nigeria, proof that the subspecies once feared to be extinct is reproducing amid protection efforts. (WCS Nigeria via AP)
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