Uganda's gorillas making a comeback

EAST Africa's mountain gorillas are making a slow but steady comeback, thanks to efforts to counter the impact of war and poaching, the conservation organisation WWF has revealed.

There are now 340 of the endangered primates in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, nearly half the world population, the group said. That is a 12 per cent growth over the past decade, indicating a healthy, well-protected population.

"This is great news for the survival of the mountain gorilla," Marc Languy, of WWF's East Africa programme, said. But with only about 720 in the wild, more needed to be done to ensure their survival.

The gorillas living in Uganda and Rwanda are a top attraction as tourists pay hundreds of dollars a day to track them through the dense forests.

Others, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are at risk from warring militias that make reserves too dangerous to visit.