I count 13 Critically Endangered Mountain Gorillas (including the only known twins) in this shaky iPhone video! My nerves were racked that day in the misty Virunga Mountains of Rwanda, Africa (hence the shakiness). I took the iPhone video to give a better feel for the total experience than my 100-400mm lens was able to capture... I had hiked for many hours up that rainy mountain, army-crawling through the mud and stinging nettle. Fortunately, it was all worth it... There were maybe 20 indviduals in the group, including a few large Silverbacks. The twins clutching onto their mothers back at the beginning of the video are very special, as they are believed to be the only Mountain Gorilla twins in the world. As mentioned, they are Critically Endangered--total population around 800 individuals. Poaching and habitat loss are the greatest threats to their survival.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 15:06:30 +0000