World Gorilla Day is an annual event celebrating gorillas and empowering global communities to take action for gorilla conservation. World Gorilla Day 2021 will focus on spreading awareness about the western lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas – two sub-species of the primates that are facing the threat of extinction.
The international event offers an opportunity for communities across the world to unite and celebrate the beauty of these primates and commit protect them in the wild.
Image: Gorilla Fund
These primates are divided into two main species – the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, both of which are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Poaching, habitat loss and disease are some of the major threats to the survival of the species.
In 2019, twenty-two zoo and aquarium partners collectively organized the last global mobile phone recycling challenge “Gorillas on the Line…Answer the Call.” The challenge recruited schools and organizations within their local region to join the noble cause. The 2019 challenge exceeded its target of engaging 10,000 people in collecting 10,000 phones.
Image: Jean de Dieu Nsanzineza
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, an NGO, established World Gorilla Day in 2017. It has learned along the way that conservation cannot happen without local support. By engaging rather than excluding local and indigenous communities, conservation efforts can move forward.
Moreover, for saving the endangered species, diversified funding sources are required as ecotourism cannot sustain these massive undertakings.
When these beautiful and intelligent primates move through the forests, they act as ecosystem engineers through their foraging and nesting habits. They eat plants and scatter seeds, leading to new regrowth; thus, gorillas keep their remote habitats healthy, slowing the pace of global climate change.
Here are some beautiful images of these primates.
Image: Andy Rouse/WWF
Image: Eric Baccega/WWF
Image: Andy Rouse/WWF
Image: Robert Haasmann