Gorilla Stories

Twenty years ago, a gorilla habitation program provided the Ba’Aka living near the Dzanga Sanga Park with a new opportunity. And by 2020, Dzanga-Sangha employed more than 50 Ba’Aka as gorilla trackers.

A recent survey revealed the largest number of mountain gorillas ever recorded in a large swathe of protected forest in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WWF and partners counted 459 individuals, up from an estimated 400 in 2011, in the 83,840-acre Bwindi-Sarambwe ecosystem.

I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), near Kahuzi-Biega National Park.

Inganda and Inguka are the first twins born to habituated western gorillas in the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas complex in the Central African Republic. Their second birthday is a reminder of the important work of the Primate Habituation Program.

Gorillas, the largest living primates, make their homes in central Africa. Poaching, disease and habitat destruction remain threats for gorillas, and WWF is working to designate new protected areas where populations can thrive.