The need to understand wildlife
From gorillas to elephants, WWF is on the trail of threatened species to better understand their needs, behaviour and the threats they face in the wild. These efforts represent the basis of any conservation measure.In Dzanga-Ndoki National Park (Central African Republic), WWF heads a team that is studying western lowland gorillas, in particular their movements and whereabouts.
The gorillas have become used to human presence, making it easier to learn about their behaviour and providing the opportunity for tourists to observe them. This will help provide the funding and the incentive to protect the forest.
WWF is training often-illiterate park rangers to use Cybertracker. Whenever they spot a species such as elephant or gorilla, they simply touch an image of the animal on a hand-held computer device that later transfers the findings and location to a computerized database. The cumulative data, when analysed, gives us an insight into the behaviour and needs of the species.
