Articles: gorillas

Privileged and emotionally overwhelmed is how we felt when we hiked through brush and bristle in the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, Africa to see Mountain Gorillas close up and personal. Indeed, we’ve been to wild places and have seen species ranging from New Zealand Blue Fairy Penguins to African Elephant. Somehow this was very different.…

I’ve interviewed thousands, but never anyone like Dr. Jane Goodall, who should receive the next Nobel Peace Prize. My hope is that you support this effort. Dr. Goodall, who just celebrated her 85th birthday on April 3, is in person a slight women, who talks softly. Still, make no mistake about her ability to speak…

Jane Goodall is the most inspirational person I’ve ever met. I’ve had the distinct honor to interview her on several occasions, though it has been several years. Of course, she’s a famed primatologist – but she is so much more than the person who taught us a bit more about ourselves but better understanding chimpanzees.…

This isn’t politics; it’s ethics. A new U.S. advisory board created to help rewrite federal rules for importing the heads and hides of big game, like African elephants, lions, and various rhino species, is stacked with trophy hunters, including some members with direct ties to President Donald Trump and his family (which is supposed to…

Orangutans are the most endangered and threatened of the great apes. Specifically, according to National Geographic Society, on November 20, 2013, the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme got a call about an injured orangutan found in the mountainous region of Tapanuli. Despite veterinary treatment, the orangutan, named Raya, died eight days later. But Raya lives on as the representative member…

Gorillas in the Mist, a 1988 film starring Sigourney Weaver, was about the life of Dr. Dian Fossey. Today, 50 years after she began to study gorillas, her memory is being honored via continued conservation of her beloved great apes. Listen to this Steve Dale’s Other World WGNPlus podcast as I speak with Dr. Tara Stoinski, CEO/president and chief scientific…

World Gorilla Day September 24 celebrates us…or at least a species very close to us. First the good news: The Mountain Gorilla species are holding their own, even gradually building on their numbers in places. They are the only great ape species (all are endangered) that can make that claim. That is solely because of…

Ged Caddick is a real-life, modern-day explorer and naturalist, and we chat on this WGN Plus Podcast, Steve Dale’s Other World.  We discuss how you can literally go along with the ride with Terra Incognita Ecotours. And here’s where they go: from the Amazon, to the Patagonia also in South America, to East Africa (Kenya to see…

The 17-year old male silverback gorilla was shot and killed after a 4-year old boy fell into the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s unclear exactly how the boy managed to get into the exhibit, but clearly he managed. The gorilla who happened to be closest to the boy was Harabe, a 450-lb. silverback,…

Visiting Mountain Gorillas in their homes in Rwanda is the most spiritual thing I’ve ever done. Here, I am standing only about 10 feet in front of wild gorillas, no bars, no cages, and no fear on either side. Behind me, a giant silverback gorilla, a mom and toward the end of the video, you…