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Ebola, twins and women-led conservation: Reporting on gorillas for World Gorilla Day
Ebola, twins and women led conservation: Reporting on gorillas for World Gorilla Day. Originally published by Mongabay.
By Mongabay.com · 2026-09-24T19:20:40.057Z
Gorillas are among humans’ closest relatives, with a common ancestor dating back around 8 to 10 million years https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/mar/07/gorilla genome analysis new human link . Both species of gorilla alive today are on the edge of extinction: The eastern gorilla Gorilla beringei is listed as endangered https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39994/115576640 on the IUCN Red List, while the western gorilla Gorilla gorilla is critically endangered https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9404/136250858 . In its latest assessment https://www.senckenberg.de/en/press releases/iucn green status assessment reveals uneven recovery for eastern gorillas/ of the eastern gorilla, the IUCN found a mixed picture of gorilla conservation. Some of the gorilla populations remained stable, while others faced declines — of roughly 60% for the subspecies Grauer’s gorilla Gorilla beringei graueri — in the last 20 years. “Conservation has made the difference between survival and extinction in some regions,” Jessi Junker, a researcher at Germany’s Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, said in a press release https://www.senckenberg.de/en/press releases/iucn green status assessment reveals uneven recovery for eastern gorillas/ . World Gorilla Day has been celebrated every Sept. 24 since 2017. For 2026, we bring you the highs and lows of gorilla conservation as published in Mongabay this year. Ebola outbreak puts gorilla conservationists on high alert https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as human ebola cases climb in drc critically endangered gorillas are at risk/ The Democratic Republic of Congo declared a new Ebola outbreak in May 2026. As of Sept. 22, 7,773 confirmed human cases https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/ebola outbreak democratic republic congo and uganda had been registered and 3,759 deaths https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/ebola outbreak democratic republic congo and uganda . While there haven’t been any suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in eastern gorillas, which are mostly endemic to the DRC, conservationists are on high alert, Mongabay’s Kayleigh Long reported https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as human ebola cases climb in drc critically endangered gorillas are at risk/ in June. A previous Ebola outbreak from 2002 2003, caused widespread infection among western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla in the Republic of Congo, killing around 5,000 of the animals. “ W e observed that Ebola spreads rapidly within gorilla groups, likely due to the physical contacts gorillas have during nap time, play or grooming sessions.” Damien Caillaud, a behavioral ecologist who witnessed the 2000s outbreak, told Long. When one animal is affected, he said, “Almost all the gorillas from the group disappear within a few weeks.” Two sets of mountain gorilla twins born in the same year https://news.mongabay.com/short article/2026/03/extraordinary second set of rare mountain gorilla twins born in drcs virunga/ Twins are rare among mountain gorillas Gorilla beringei beringei , occurring in less than 1% of births. However, park authorities of DRC’s Virunga National Park recorded births of two sets of gorilla twins in 2026, David Akana, Mongabay’s program manager for the Africa bureau, reported https://news.mongabay.com/short article/2026/03/extraordinary second set of rare mountain gorilla twins born in drcs virunga/ in March. Jacques Katutu, the park’s head of gorilla monitoring, called the two twin births within three months “an extraordinary event”. Women patrol the outskirts of key Cross River gorilla sanctuary https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a nigerian gorilla sanctuary/ Women’s collectives in southeastern Nigeria are carrying out patrols and investigating environmental crimes plaguing communities around the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, — home to critically endangered https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39998/102326240 Cross River gorillas Gorilla gorilla diehli and endangered https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15933/129038584 Nigeria Cameroon chimpanzees Pan troglodytes ellioti . Women from two villages have even halted illegal timber deals, according to Francis Akie, head of the Traditional Rulers Council of Ulom, reported contributor Orji Sunday in July https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a nigerian gorilla sanctuary/ . “Our men have failed to stop the threats,” Ofre Mary, founder of the Ulom Women’s Conservation Collective, told Sunday https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a nigerian gorilla sanctuary/ . “That’s why women decided to take a stand.” Banner image: A western lowland gorilla gorilla gorilla gorilla in Gabon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.