Thousands more rare lowland gorillas than previously thought may have survived years of war and poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a US conservation group said today.
Although the eastern lowland gorilla has disappeared from nearly a quarter of its traditional territory, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI) now estimates there are still between 5,500 and 28,000 of the apes left.
Also known as Grauer's gorilla, the endangered ape is found only in the Congo, which has experienced a decade of wars and internal conflict.
"We found two important populations of Grauer's gorilla that were severely underestimated, neglected or thought not to exist," Patrick Mehlman, vice president of Atlanta-based DFGFI's Africa programmes, said.
He said the wide range of the new population estimate was due to the difficulty in pinning down gorilla numbers.
Researchers made their estimates by counting gorilla nests in searches that intersected large areas.
The rare good news came from studies in Tayna Gorilla Reserve and Maiko National Park, sanctuaries in Congo's lawless east where invading armies and Congolese rebels fought two wars during the past decade.
"In Maiko, where we thought there were only 33 gorillas. We are now looking at a population of about 600 or more," Mr Mehlman said.
Research carried out by the DFGFI found that there are still between 367 and 1,129 Grauer's gorillas in Tayna.
The plight of gorillas in Africa was made famous in the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mistabout American researcher Dian Fossey who studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda in the 1960s. She was hacked to death in Congo's Virunga National Park in 1985.