It is inevitable Gorillas will be picked off until to few are left to continue. Gorillas don't stand a chance. All so Humans can have Charcoal and tropical hardwood.

Randy, NC, USA/NC

Protecting an innocent, gentle and vanishing species so closely related to our own is in my opinion a much more noble effort than fighting for fuel and resources. I would support an unprecented military effort by advanced nations to root out those who are killing the last remaining mountain gorillas, whose lives are clearly more precious than those of the mindless thugs slaughtering them.

Will, Cambridge, Maryland, United States

Moving the last mountain gorillas to a 'safe haven' (a.k.a. zoo) outside their natural environment is meaningless -- one might as well just preserve their images on DVD and their DNA in a lab. Charities like The Gorilla Organization are doing great things to educate the local populace and help them prosper alongside the gorillas, but even their efforts are tiny when pitted against the forces of socio-political instability (see e.g. In the Kingdom of the Gorillas by Bill & Amy Veder, which has a wider perspective than the Dian Fossey film).

Active engagement / investment by developed nations may encourage those in DP Congo to realize they can achieve prosperity for all (not just a corrupt few) by following Rwanda's example, as gorillas are worth far more alive in their true habitat than dead. Importantly, they must also be worth more than the charcoal in the trees or the coltan used for mobile phones; otherwise it's certain that they will fall victim to human inhumanity.

Ozaru, Birchington,

Moving Gorillas to 'safe havens' (a.k.a. zoos) outside their natural environment is no real solution -- might just as well try to preserve their images in videos and their DNA in some laboratory, as a sad reminder of humankind's inhumanity. The various charities active in the area (The Gorilla Organization etc.) do great things to educate the local people & help them prosper alongside the gorillas, but even these efforts are as nothing compared to the dreadful force of political instability. Let's just hope that education (helped by active engagement & investment from developed nations) makes DR Congo learn -- as Rwanda has -- that stability can bring prosperity to all, instead of just a corrupt few. Some good insights (with a wider perspective than e.g. Dian Fossey) can be found in Bill & Amy Weber's book "In the Kingdom of Gorillas".

Ozaru, Birchington,

I visited this family of mountain gorillas in June and it was a joy to spend time with them. I find it shocking to find that the majority of the family are now dead.

The people of the Congo need to see the benifits in protecting the Gorillas. The proceeds from tourism should be visibly directed back into the families living within the area. The people may then see the lasting benifits to be gained if the gorrilas are preserved. Sadly it seems that the money from tourism goes into greedy hands.

Tom Bailey, Springsure, Australia

It's a shame that the innocents have to pay for the greed of humans

Bonnie, Eugene, Oregon

Did Mr Cameron just visit Rwanda?

Mike, Denham, UK

Marco, these animals are endangered, there are none in captivity - at this rate pretty soon we'll have wiped them out completely and all we'll have are pictures like that to show our children - that seems like pretty much front page news to me

Tina, south yorkshire,

Sad to say it but I'm off African descent and I agree with cerronevado, Mijas from Spain's comments. Africa is a basket case, if we rely on African governments or it's people to protect the endangered indigenous species then we might as well concede that those animals are going to hell in a hand-basket.

ANDREW, HACKNEY, LONDON

Every animal is important, but cows chickens & pigs are not going extinct. There is less then 700 hundred Mountain Gorillas left, at this rate, they will be gone in 20 years, or sooner.

Candy Bowman-LeBlanc, Placerville, California

I agree with the comment from Spain - the problem with Africa is Africans. Corrupt officials, warring militias, inhuman behaviour...

All the debt relief in the world is not going to halt Africas decline, if we want to be serious about the continent, this is the real region we should be thinking about regime change in.

Andrew Coxon, New York, NY

This is so horrible, so disgusting. The perpetrators MUST be caught and brought to justice. Those "people" don't deserve to live.

elizabeth schumann, Paris, France

If the conservation agencies want to save the mountin gorillas, then the gorillas must be moved to a safe place outside Africa. Africa and Africans are the world's longest running disaster scenario; no point in thinking that poor animals will be cared for by people who do such a bad job of caring for fellow humans - or is it all the fault of colonialism - still ?

David, Ligneyrac, France

It just breaks my heart to see these dead gorillas. I agree with other comments that these precious animals should be relocated to a more civilized part of the world.

Eva, Kopenhagen,

It is sickening and deeply saddening. What an example we set for our children and future generations, and what do we (governments especially) do about it? Nothing... I am ashamed and very angry.

David Goodwin, Manchester,

Why is so much of Africa still in such a lawless, barbaric condition?

Alex G, Detroit, USA

mere hypocrisy...

Who decided that gorilla are any better than any other animals?
the daily killing of millions of cows, pigs and chickens for our food needs does not make the first page like 7 gorilla killed in africa?

This story is being strumentalised, what happen is obviously viciously wrong, however far bigger injustice happen in the world.

is this whole gorilla thing our way to show our commitment to the environment? priorities should be different

Marco, london,

I'm with Cerronevado and Brien 100%. This is disgusting, unnecessary slaughter as is the killing of any wildlife. Enough feeble excuses, it's boring and doesn't wash with me anymore. These killers and poachers gave up their right to my sympathy or consideration a long time ago -tough! Many of these countries have been given lots of help and financial aid by various agencies over the years to encourage self sufficiency and tourism which wildlife plays a huge part, and has been proven to improve the economy and life of it's people.

Jenny, London, U.K.

give gorrillas the vote that will end world poverty

Dr G. Rilla, grillesville, UK

"It's too bad that we can't arm the gorillas."

Gorilla warfare?

Sam Nicholson, Basingstoke,

Why are we always trying to be politically correct about Africa? The place is a disaster in human affairs from top to bottom, how can we expect animals to be cared for? Over 2 million people were killed in the Congolese civil war 1998-2002, apart from the 850,000 in Rwanda in 1995.

There isn´t any part of Africa that isn´t severely environmentally threatened. There are no seriously thought out mechanisms in place to stop the rot and it looks extremely unlike that there ever will be. Past performance in this case, IS a good guide to the future.

If we want to save Africa´s magnificent wildlife, then either buy the whole lot off from the African countries, pay off their corrupt governments, and transfer the animals to large safe havens in more stable parts of the world with compatible climates.

cerronevado, Mijas, Spain

This is a truly sickening act yet I wonder how many column inches it will merit next to the latest Big Brother eviction. We are all in our own way complicit, through our voracious demand for the resources which tear these countries apart and form the root of the endemic corruption which plagues them. It is a sad day for mankind and a tragic one for our noble, graceful ancestors.

Chris Dwyer, Hong Kong,

Its apalling.
Whats more appalling is that not one word has been mentioned in this or other papers about the hundreds and possibly thousands of farm animals that have and will die as a result of the floods.
Myopia and navel gazing seem to govern the editorial comment of this paper.
Still the death of British Farm animals should not concern the public too much, as most of their organic supermarket food is from abroad and then brazenly labelled British as it passes through miles of industrial cling film.
The Gorilla story is symptomatic of us, Homo Sapien, and will last till tomorrows new News.

Tom Edwards, Taunton,

The best conservation can only be achieved when the local people are helped. Conservation works in developed and wealth countries because the people do not depend on free meat and wood to survive. Conservation means nothing to the hungry man. Worse still, a hungry man is often an angry man.

John Lee, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Dian Fossey would turn in her grave.

Once again corrupt African goverments show their total disregard for innocent parties.

David, Birmingham, England

This is an abomination. I am sick of political correctness giving Africa a pass for its genocide of wildlife. These priceless gorillas are our closest ,living animal relatives. They are sensitive, intelligent and very sociable. Their murderers want to send a message. They have ! They are inhumane savages rife with violence and irreverence for life. It might be time for us to spend money to relocate Africa's wildlife to civilized nature havens and sanctuaries, My heart is broken !

Brien Comerford, Glenview, United States

It's too bad that we can't arm the gorillas.

Bruce L. Northwood, Washington, D.C., USA