Baby Mountain Gorilla Photograph by Michael Nichols Nearly half
of the world's 700-some remaining mountain gorillas—including
this infant—live in the Virunga mountains of central Africa, at
the intersection of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. Virunga National Park, home to nearly 200
gorillas, has become a battleground for militia groups and the
Congolese army. Poachers also hunt park gorillas for meat and
sale, and locals cut down trees to create charcoal. In the early
2000s, with the help of dedicated rangers and other measures,
the gorilla population rebounded in the Virungas. But in 2007,
at least ten apes in Virunga National Park were lost to murder
and chaos, and their survival is uncertain.