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Slide 23: The Hagenia woodland (Hagenia abbysinnica) is a dense mist-forest with an extensive undergrowth including a tangle of lianas, grasses, epiphytes, blackberry bushes and nettles. Note also the Giant Lobelia (Lobelia sp.) the plant with the large spiky flower at the right. This is prime habitat for the mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) named after a German military officer, Oscar von Beringe who explored these mountains around 1902 and whose name the gorilla takes. But it was the more famous Carl Akeley who in 1921 first filmed and studied the gorilla seriously. He subsequently lobbied extensively to have King Leopold of Belgium establish the Virunga Mountains in 1925 as Africa's first national park and a sactuary for the gorilla. The forest in this belt is also home to many other mammals such as squirrels, hyrax, the dormouse and mongoose as well as over 180 bird species. Many animals in the park besides the gorilla are endangered. Learn more about this region's history and natural beauty from the National Geographic Society video "Virunga: Heart of Africa". See under Videos in Learning Resources. Today many people, like the boy in the photo, come to view and study the gorilla under the watchful eye of a tracker/game warden. Image credit: photo by Robert E. Ford, Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah |
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