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UN: Central African gorillas in danger from trade

By JASON STRAZIUSO (AP) – 7 hours ago

NAIROBI, Kenya — Gorillas in central Africa are in danger from illegal
logging, mining and from hunters who are killing great apes for meat,
said a joint report from the United Nations and Interpol released
Wednesday.

A previous report in 2002 estimated that only 10 percent of gorillas
would remain by 2030. The author of the 2002 report and of the newly
released one said that estimate now appears too optimistic.

"We fear now that the gorillas may become extinct from most parts of
their range in perhaps 15 years," U.N. Environmental Program's
Christian Nellemann said.

One of the dangers gorillas now face is a large increase in logging
for timber that is mostly destined for Asia, particularly China, said
Nellemann, also editor-in-chief of the newly released report "The Last
Stand of The Gorilla."

Militant factions have also taken over gorilla land, making the
protection of gorillas extremely difficult, he said. Increasing human
populations and the deadly ebola virus are also killing gorillas.

Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP, said that logging and
mining camps hire poachers to supply refugees and markets with the
meat of wild animals, including gorillas.

The report calls for greater scrutiny of European and Asian companies
using subsidiaries to extract timber and minerals from central Africa.

"This is tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other
species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal
trade," Steiner said in a statement. "In short it is environmental
crime and theft by the few and the powerful at the expense of the poor
and the vulnerable."

David Higgins, manager of the Interpol Environmental Crime Program,
said that gorillas are a victim of the contempt shown by organized
crime groups toward national and international laws aimed at defending
wildlife.

The report, however, contained some good news as well. An unpublished
survey of one area of eastern Congo in the center of the conflict zone
discovered 750 previously unknown critically endangered eastern
lowland gorillas.

"What we are worried about is that these gorillas are disappearing
faster than we can actually mobilize resources to save them," said
Nellemann, who called for increased resources for UNEP and Interpol to
protect great apes.

There are four distinct types of gorilla. Three are listed as
critically endangered and one is listed as endangered.

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