Gorillas – in the midst
The gorillas were the main attraction of course. Elaine and I had long been obsessed with these wonderful animals. Near where we live, at the related wildlife parks Howletts (near Canterbury) and Port Lympne (between Rye and Folkestone) several gorilla families are kept in captivity, in good conditions. We visit them regularly. They are Western Lowland Gorillas, as are the vast majority of captive gorillas. Between 100,000-300,000 remain in the wild, mostly in Congo and surrounding countries. The shaggier Mountain Gorilla is much rarer, and classified as endangered. It is estimated there are about 1,000 – up from a nadir of around 250 when poaching was taking its toll in the 1960s and 70s. You will never see them in captivity – they don’t thrive there. They inhabit two upland sites: one at the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, below the five extinct volcanoes of the Virunga Massif (the Rwanda side is now the Volcanoes National Park); and the other i...