Mountain gorillas off critical endangered list

OMA, Congo: Central African mountain gorillas came off the ‘critically endangered’ species list on Thursday, November 15 following a rare and dramatic recovery in numbers over the past decade.

A survey this year found numbers had jumped to 1,000 individuals, from 680 in 2008, enabling scientists to reclassify them as ‘endangered’.

“Even though the rise of the mountain gorilla population is fantastic news, the species is still in danger and conservation efforts must go on,”  said Liz Williamson, primate specialist for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

The IUCN classifies species according to how much under threat they are, and numbers for most high-profile ones are falling