Plant-herbivore dynamics in the Birungas.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DX192787 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

New Grauer's Gorilla Population Estimate

First paragraph: A recent paper in the American Journal of Primatology by Andrew Plumptre and colleagues examined the largest survey dataset for Grauer's gorillas Gorilla beringei graueri to date, collected between 2011 and 2019. Grauer's gorilla range covers over 15,000 km² (just under 5,800 square miles, or an area equivalent to half the size of Belgium) in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The paper has updated our understanding of how many Grauer's gorillas exist in the wild, and the trend in that population size

New Grauer's Gorilla Population Estimate

First paragraph: A recent paper in the American Journal of Primatology by Andrew Plumptre and colleagues examined the largest survey dataset for Grauer's gorillas Gorilla beringei graueri to date, collected between 2011 and 2019. Grauer's gorilla range covers over 15,000 km² (just under 5,800 square miles, or an area equivalent to half the size of Belgium) in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The paper has updated our understanding of how many Grauer's gorillas exist in the wild, and the trend in that population size

Pan troglodytes (errata version published in 2018)

Assessment Information: Although Pan troglodytes is the most abundant and widespread of the great apes, and many populations exist in protected areas, the declines that have occurred are expected to continue, satisfying the criteria for an Endangered listing (Oates 2006). Due to high levels of poaching, infectious diseases, and loss of habitat and habitat quality caused by expanding human activities, this species is estimated to have experienced a significant population reduction in the past 20–30 years and it is suspected that this reduction will continue for the next 30–40 years. Due to their slow life history and a generation time estimated to be 25 years, Chimpanzee populations cannot sustain high levels of mortality, whether disease-induced or caused by poaching. The maximum population reduction over a three-generation (75 year) period from 1975 to 2050 is suspected to exceed 50%, hence qualifying this taxon as Endangered under criterion A. Although conservation efforts directed at Chimpanzees and other wildlife have increased significantly in recent years, the assumption that population reductions will continue is a precautionary approach based on the rapid growth of human populations in sub-Saharan Africa, continuing poaching for bushmeat, the commercial bushmeat trade, the arrival of industrial agriculture (which requires clearcutting of forest), corruption and lack of law enforcement, lack of capacity and resources, and political instability in some range states. At the same time, zoonosis and disease outbreaks present significant risks; there is, for example, evidence that Ebolavirus will continue to spreadin some parts of the Chimpanzee's geographic range(Walshet al.2005)

Status of Grauer’s Gorilla and Chimpanzees in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: Historical and Current Distribution and Abundance

This report summarises the current state of knowledge on the distribution, densities and trends in abundance of Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) and the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It summarises the historical knowledge about the distribution of Grauer’s gorilla across its range and describes the development of a Conservation Action Plan (CAP) for these two ape species. A result of this CAP was funding to undertake an assessment of the current status of these apes across the range of Grauer’s gorilla. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) worked with Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and the Reserve managers of the Reserve des Gorilles de Punia (RGPU) and local communities to undertake surveys across the region using a variety of methods: line transects, recces along paths and patrol data from data collected by rangers while on patrol and entered into SMART software