May 31, 2023
War, genocide, human population growth, food insecurity, poaching, limited range, climate change and land use policies are just some of the reasons why mountain gorillas have been on the brink of extinction for decades. A reality made more stark given the subspecies was only "discovered" by the West as recently as 1902. Today, the Mountain Gorilla, made part of the public consciousness by the embedded research and advocacy efforts of the late Dr. Dian Fossey, and later by modern zoos and zoo media personalities like Jack Hanna, has rebounded somewhat in the beautiful central African country of Rwanda. While these conservation gains are far from guaranteed, concentrated research, public education, greater security, and well-managed ecotourism efforts have preserved mountain gorillas for now. Join Zoo Logic from the field for a real time glimpse at what trekking to see this charismatic species entails for them and for humans in a small country still coping with the legacy of genocide.