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| 1 |
Thousands
of gorillas with communicative
and emotional capacities similar
to Koko, Michael and Ndume are
being killed in their African
forest homes each year by commercial
poachers in the illegal "bushmeat"
trade. |
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A mountain gorilla couple in Rwanda |
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| 2 |
At
this rate, gorillas
and other great apes (except humans)
could be
completely wiped out in their
wild habitats in less than a decade
or two — decimated
even before the timber industry
finishes cutting down the forests. |
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| An
orphan at the Michael Sanctuary |
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| 3 |
This
is why the
Gorilla Foundation has expanded
its focus beyond research to conservation
and education:
— aiming to convert
bushmeat poachers
and consumers to
wildlife protectors.
Dr. Anthony
Rose manages this outreach
process via the Gorilla Foundation's
African Wildlife Protectors Fund
(WPF). |
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| Ex-poacher
Joseph with Dr. Tony Rose |
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| 4 |
By
teaching about gorilla sensitivity
through Koko's
Kitten, and the new
book Michael's
Dream (in
which gorilla Michael recounts
in sign language the killing of
his mother by poachers) the
Gorilla Foundation's conservation-based
educational outreach is making
an important impact in Africa. |
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Michael recalling his mother's demise. |
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| 5 |
In
addition to the ambassadorship
of gorillas Koko and (the
late) Michael, we're building
sanctuaries
in the US and Africa to
make sure that at least some gorillas
are safe — and that
their welfare is optimized via
better interspecies
communication. |
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(See
Maui
Ape Preserve
and African
Projects sections for details.) |
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| Koko
is an ambassador for Nature |
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| 6 |
Despite
a decade of investigation and
intervention, the
crisis facing great apes in Africa
is growing. The Gorilla
Foundation's WPF director, Dr.
Anthony Rose, has published a
powerful 200-page book, Consuming
Nature, depicting
the enormous threat to wildlife
conservation which we are confronting,
with your
help. |
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(This
book will be available in KokoMart
soon.) |
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Photo
Essay on Conservation Crisis |
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| 6 |
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| Koko
ponders the future |
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Sign
near the Michael Sanctuary in Cameroon |
