Here’s
a story that just may make you want to jump out of your chair a do a little
dance!
We’re
always hearing about all the damages we humans are doing to Mother Nature. I
wish I could say it wasn’t so, but, tragically, it’s true. We just can’t
honestly say we’re very good to our beautiful planet. At all. And most days it
just makes me want to hang my head and sigh.
But
today! – Ah! – Today I can raise my head as high as it will go and grin from
ear to ear! It’s a time to celebrate! To be proud of who we are and the amazing
things we can accomplish! A time to bask in a warm wave of splendid hope for
the future!
And at
the heart of it all is a sweet little brown face with big, dark, beautiful
eyes.
I know
you’ve heard of the mountain Gorilla. This is the brown, fuzzy nearly bi-pedal
inhabitant of Africa with the slightly mixed-up reputation. The gorilla was
kind of vilified in movies of old that showed a very, very, monstrously large
version of the species climbing buildings in New York and creating havoc. Can’t
think of the name of the movie just now.
It was
dedicated scientists like Diane Fossey who brought the gorilla’s true story
into the spotlight. It turns out they were large and formidably, alright.
Especially when they stood up and pounded their chest and let loose a might
roar! But it also turns out that that was a fairly rare occurrence. They only
do that when they feel threatened. Most of the time they’re quiet, gentle and
peaceful.
They
have organized an organized society, they care for one another, and they occasionally
even use basic tools, such as a stick to poke an ant hill in search of a snack.
They have individual personalities and demonstrate genuine emotion, and at
least one, a female named Koko, has even learned sign language and used it to
communicate very effectively with humans, demonstrating intelligent thought
processes.
Yet,
for all these amazing things, somehow, some members of the human race saw
nothing but something to kill and
slaughter. They were dropping in terrible numbers, often poached just for their
hands for medicines or whatever else the poachers thought they could make money
from, and the bulk of the animal’s body was simply left to waste.
For
years we’ve been being told that it’s nearly too late. If they keep dying at
the rate they are, they will definitely vanish by the turn of the millennium and
future kids will only ever see them in books and old documentaries.
But, lo
and behold, millennium changed and the gorillas were still there peeking out of
their forests. The days chugged on and here we are, 15 years into the 21st
century, and still happily sharing our earth with these incredible creatures.
Yet they continued to be described as endangered. Still in terrible trouble.
Until
recently.
There
has been news from the scientists that is enough to make anyone cheer! The
Mountain Gorilla population is growing at a significant rate! In the 1980s, the
experts calculated that there were around 620. Today the World Wildlife
Foundation reports about 880 animals roaming the mountains thanks to
conservation efforts!
This is
not to say, of course, that life is now perfect for the gorillas, yet. They
still need to be protected and cared for, and they remain at a very high risk
of poaching.
But it
is to say that we’ve taken a very positive step in the right direction, and
this offers great hope for what we can accomplish in the future, not only as
far as protecting the gorillas, but also regarding all the other challenges we’ve
caused in our natural world.
Recently,
24 new baby gorillas have been added to the growing population in Rwanda. The
people there have a long standing tradition. Each time a baby gorilla is born,
they have a ceremony at which they give the baby a name that reflects their personality
or a hope for what the future holds. Some of the babies have names like, “Dreams”,
“Comes Together” or “Wish”.
What
would you name a baby gorilla?
Photo by Carine06 from UK
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