Saving Planet Earth
Will Young: Saving Gorillas
Logging and bush meat poachers are taking their toll on the elusive lowland gorillas of West Africa. The two go hand-in-hand. As loggers raze the once impenetrable jungles, poachers follow in their wake.
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Will Young makes an emotional journey into the heart of Africa where he sees two very different sides of gorilla conservation. In Cameroon, he visits a refuge caring for the often traumatised orphaned gorilla victims of the bush meat trade, while in Gabon, he sees for himself the success of preserving the gorillas' jungle habitat.
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At the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Foundation (CWAF), surrogate mum Rachel Hogan introduces Will to the traumatised babies rescued after the parents were slaughtered. Just like human children, young gorillas separated from their parents need individual care. Without emotional support they rarely survive the trauma.
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Rachel explains: "They're all orphans of the bush meat trade, which means that the hunters have slaughtered the family group. Normally, the infants are too small to be killed for meat so the hunter will take them, try to keep them alive and maybe sell them as pets. But with gorillas, they're so sensitive and emotionally fragile that it's really difficult. Within 24 to 48 hours they often just give up and die."
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For Will, a close encounter with a wild gorilla is a remarkable experience. "The most bizarre thing is they look so human," explains Will. "I feel like I want to talk to them. It's quite amazing to see something so similar to us. And to think that they could be gone in my life..."
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But, although sanctuaries such as CWAF are vital for the care of gorillas affected by poachers, they are not the answer to gorilla survival.
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Will travels to the Mikongo Conservation Centre, in Gabon, where scientists helped by the local Baka pygmies study the gorillas in the wild. Ten per cent of the country has been declared a national park, and the forest around Mikongo is believed to have the greatest concentration of lowland gorillas in the world.
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Despite the abundance of gorillas, they are extremely elusive. The scientists track the gorillas everyday and painstakingly piece together the reality of their lives.
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Tracking gorillas deep into the forests gives Will an insight into the gorillas' incredible habitat. "It's really amazing if you stop and listen to the sounds of the forest as they sound very similar to a piece of music, because there are so many different elements," says Will.
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"It's like building up a music track; you bring in different instruments and it's just the same in the forest. And, if you stop and hear it, you hear the complete finished article."
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After a three-day expedition with scientist Gabrielle Sciatelle following signs – including broken twigs and foot prints – Will has a rare encounter with a wild gorilla family. It's a moment, he says, he will always remember.
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A £10 donation to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wildlife Fund (charity number 1119286) could help the Zoological Society Of London fund a gorilla tracker for a day.
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