The gorillas of Rwanda are endangered by loss of natural environment and poaching, but like their human cousins, they are affected by the plight of man down below their mountain homes. Rwanda is one of a handful of countries where gorillas are found, but the small state was rocked by an ethnic genocide in 1994. The Sierra Club writes, “The threat to biodiversity from combat can also be illustrated by the Rwanda genocide of 1994. The risk to the already endangered population of mountain gorillas from the violence was of minimal concern to combatants and victims during the 90-day massacre. The threat to the gorillas increased after the war as thousands of refugees, some displaced for decades, returned to the already overpopulated country. Faced with no space to live, they had little option but to inhabit the forest reserves, home to the gorilla population.”
Find out more about the efforts still being made to rebuild Rwandan unity in the short film above and check out more about efforts to protect gorillas here.
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