Washington, Dec 17 (IANS) The world’s rarest and most camera shy great ape has been filmed for the first time in a forested mountain in Cameroon, says the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
With the WCS’s assistance, a crew from the Hamburg-based NDR Naturfilm managed to video film the elusive Cross River gorilla earlier this year after weeks of effort in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary.

The protected area was created in 2008, with the guidance of WCS, specifically to protect the world’s rarest great ape. Hunting continues to be one of the biggest threats to these gorillas, besides habitat destruction.

“It’s unbelievable that one great ape subspecies has never been filmed for TV so far,” said Jörn Röver, who heads NDR Naturfilm. “We hope that our international production helps to raise awareness for these magnificent creatures and the work of the WCS.”

Classified as critically endangered by IUCN’s Red List, the Cross River gorilla number is less than 300 across its entire range in Cameroon and Nigeria.

“These gorillas are extremely wary of humans and are very difficult to photograph or film,” said Roger Fotso, director of the WCS’ Cameroon Program. “Eventually, we identified and staked out some of the gorillas’ favourite fig trees, which is where we finally achieved our goal.”

The only previous footage available of the rare apes was taken from a long distance with a shaky, hand-held camera in 2005 by a field researcher, said a WCS release.

Due to the steep mountain terrain, tracking gorillas in Kagwene is time-consuming and sometimes treacherous. Through the years, WCS researchers have developed an effective non-invasive monitoring system aimed at keeping track of the gorillas without disturbing them.