After years in which they were poached almost to extinction, the number of mountain gorillas in central Africa appears to be rising.
The first survey of the apes in 15 years showed that despite wars, poachers and human encroachment on their habitats, populations of mountain gorillas in a range of volcanos straddling the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have grown from 324 in 1989 to 380.
Numbers are still critically low but wildlife officials are delighted by the results of the survey.
A series of conflicts in the region - chiefly civil war in the Democratic Republic and genocide in Rwanda - has made it impossible to count numbers since 1989.
The census was conducted late last year by wildlife officials who crisscrossed the region searching for the dung and trampled vegetation that mark a gorilla trail.
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