A mountain gorilla eating leaves in the forest of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. — Photos: AP
News of a sick or injured mountain gorilla can worry local residents in this mountainous area that’s home to the endangered species. That’s partly because most of the gorillas have been given names, allowing rangers and others to humanise the animal’s suffering.
But widespread interest in protecting mountain gorillas also comes from the economic benefits of tourism that have turned poachers into conservationists, married women into porters and rangers into eloquent spokespeople for the great apes.
