The world’s most endangered gorilla subspecies was found in southern Nigeria. (CNN) In a rare scene, conservationists have captured new images of the world’s rarest gorillas with several babies in southern Nigeria.
Cross River Gorillas was spotted in a camera set up by the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Mbe Mountains in the province of Cross River.
According to the International Association for the Conservation of Nature, the subspecies are endangered, and at one time only about 300 were known to be alive in the hilly areas of Nigeria and Cameroon.
Cross River gorillas are rarely seen or photographed. They extremely shy about people and live in many rough and inaccessible parts of their range. In total, only 300 gorillas have been found in an isolated area near the Nigeria / Cameroon border.
The gorillas tend to avoid humans and their populations have been the target of hunters in the past. In 2012, images of gorillas were also captured at the Kagwen Gorilla Sanctuary in Cameroon.
Inaoyom Imong, director of the Cross River Landscape of the Nigerian Wildlife Conservation Society, said in a statement that the Cross Rive gorillas have been “well protected” for decades, targeting poachers.
The association says it has been working with several communities to ensure the safety of gorillas and that no deaths of subspecies in Nigeria have been recorded or reported since 2012.
Gabriel Ocha, head of Kanyang, one of the villages near the Mbe Mountains, said the images provide evidence that his community conservation efforts with the WCS are yielding efforts.
“I’m so excited to see these wonderful pictures of the Cross River gorillas that have so many babies in our forest,” Ocha said in a statement.
Cover photo – WCS Nigeria
