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Gorillas need our help without delay

Humankind has not done a very good job of stewardship involving the animal kingdom. After thousands of years of co-existing with other creatures, we have killed off hundreds of species during the past couple of centuries.

Now the eastern gorilla is in serious jeopardy. During the annual World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, it was revealed only about 5,000 of the animals are left. That is down about 70 percent during the past 20 years.

So precipitous has been the population decline that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature now lists eastern gorillas on its “critically endangered” list. If something dramatic is not done to save them “soon” the animals will disappear from the wild.

That would be a tragedy for many reasons, not the least of which is that eastern gorillas are among the six species of great apes that are very closely related genetically to humans.

Gorillas face a variety of challenges including loss of habitat. Poaching by human beings is blamed for loss of many of the animals.

There has been some success in saving western gorillas, due to realistic conservation efforts in countries such as Rwanda and Uganda. There, former poachers can earn more money guiding tourists to see the gorillas.

U.S. officials should determine whether a relatively small sum of aid from this country, perhaps a few million dollars, could kick-start such a program in eastern African nations. There is no time to lose in that and in other action to save the eastern gorillas.

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