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[Josh Greenman <josh.greenman AT gmail.com>]

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE58R37320090928

Tweeting Ugandan gorillas make friends online
Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:31pm EDT

By Hereward Holland

BWINDI IMPENETRABLE FOREST, Uganda (Reuters) - Lurking deep in the
mist-glazed forests of east Africa, Uganda's mountain gorillas are
preparing to 'tweet' for their survival.

With the launch on Saturday of the "Friend a Gorilla" campaign, human
fans will soon be able to follow the everyday drama of one of the few
remaining 720 mountain gorillas online, far from the red ants, mud and
tropical rain of their habitats.

When the friendagorilla.org site goes live, users will be able to
access videos, pictures and rangers' blogs through websites like
Facebook and Twitter, said Moses Mapesa Wafula, head of the Uganda
Wildlife Authority (UWA).

They will also be able to follow their new friends via satellite tracking.

"By paying one dollar to Friend a Gorilla, everybody contributes to
the conservation of this species," Wafula said.

Not everybody can afford the $500 price tag for a real gorilla trek
but the fiber-optic tentacles of globalization will make it possible
for anyone to watch a mother grooming her children, juvenile males
fighting for dominance or even feel the rush of being charged by a 500
pound (225 kg) silverback male.

Tourist receipts represent Uganda's second largest foreign exchange earner.

Organizers say the campaign is the first time social networking has
been harnessed for conservation and hope it will generate $100,000 in
the first three months and a further $350,000 within the first year.

Drafted in to help publicize the campaign, actor Jason Biggs, star of
the American Pie comedies, said gazing into the eyes of a gorilla was
like meeting an old friend.

"It was pretty surreal. I felt like when I made eye contact with the
gorillas, it was like an out-of-body experience," Biggs told Reuters
after a face to face encounter with one of the gorillas at Bwindi. "It
was mind-blowing."

With around 370 mountain gorillas, Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable
National Park plays host to roughly half the global population, with
the remainder scattered across volcanoes in nearby Rwanda and the
war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.

The gorilla's habitat is threatened by illegal logging for charcoal,
timber and agriculture and are also poached for bush meat, UWA staff
said.

Although the gorillas remain endangered, UWA has registered growth
rates of 12 percent and watched the gorilla population double over the
last 25 years, according to Wafula.

He said the money raised by the Friend and Gorilla campaign would
contribute toward conservation efforts as well as help promote
alternative livelihoods for people living in and around the park.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)