Gorilla poaching : Gorillas are endangered animal species and the major factor to their few numbers are poaching among others. There are four sub species of the gorilla genus and these are the cross river gorillas, western lowland gorillas, the eastern lowland gorillas and the mountain gorillas. All these gorillas are currently living in the wild and in national parks/reserves that have aimed at conserving the remaining population for the future.

The national parks and reserves along with stakeholders of the areas in which the gorillas numbers have since then been seen increasing. The poaching of the gorillas especially the mountain gorillas was because of a number of reasons and this write up below focuses on a number of these. One of the earliest recognized conservationists was Dian Fossey who is alleged to have been brutally murdered by poachers in her cottage.

Bush meat; this is a common reason as to why the gorillas are poached or killed. The meat of the mountain gorillas was previously on high demand in the black market causing the local people to aim at capturing these animals to sell them or even consume them themselves. The militia in the area around the Virunga national park tend to feed on bush meat and this includes the gorilla meat too.

This gorilla meat on the black market was sold expensively and this was also seen as another way of making quick and big money. It was believed to be delicious by those who consumed it.

Witchcraft practices; the gorillas were hunted down for their body parts as these were used in practices of the witchcrafts. Some of these body parts included the hands, heads and legs that were symbolized with strength for the limbs and knowledge for the head and also the bones were crushed to make local medicine/ charm.

Traditional healers were another major reason that pushed the locals to look out for the gorillas. This was more common on the Ugandan side of the gorilla homes.

As pets; the gorillas were greatly admired that some people captured them to keep as pets or sell to the prestigious zoos or research centers all over the world. Some gorillas can survive in captivity but the mountain gorillas can only survive in the wild and will immediately start to depreciate in health and eventually die.

Injured by traps; the gorillas live in the wild with the other wild life and some of these smaller animals are captured by traps/ snares and a number of times, the mountain gorillas fall prey of a trap left by the poachers and are greatly injured and if not found in time by the rangers may lose their lives.

This is one of the reasons of poaching that are still being an issue but the park rangers are aiming at doing thorough routine checks around the gorilla homes to aid the injured or remove the set traps.

Prestige/ trophy; in the old years, it was prestigious to have defeated a mountain gorilla as the strength of one mountain gorilla is estimated to the strength of 6 grown adult males. Once one killed a mountain gorilla, the body parts were kept as a trophy or sign of power in their homes and this built their ego.

War victims; the area in which the mountain gorillas and the other western lowland gorillas live in war torn areas and some of the gorillas have lost their lives in the wars or unrest in the area. This common in the Virunga region of the Democratic republic of Congo. The rebel groups like to hide in the forested areas which are also home to the mountain gorillas.

Human-wildlife conflict; the gorillas tend to stay in the forests and also the growing population of the humans have led to encroaching of the land which is originally habituated by the gorillas. The humans kill the mountain gorillas to settle in their land and this has been a past cause as the gorillas are now in clearly demarcated national parks and encroachment is not a major worry.

Contribute to managing the poaching in the area in any of the mountain gorilla parks you may visit such as the Volcanoes national park on a Rwanda safari, Mgahinga gorilla national park and the Bwindi impenetrable forest national park on a Uganda safari or the Virunga national park on the DR Congo safari.