Portrait of a Wild Mountain Gorilla SilverbackHIGHLY ENDANGERED
by Dave Welling
Title
Portrait of a Wild Mountain Gorilla SilverbackHIGHLY ENDANGERED
Artist
Dave Welling
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
I was very fortunate to travel to the Virungas National Forest in Zaire one year to photograph mountain gorillas. There are only about 500 of them in the wild so this was a very special trip for me. This portrait is of Rugabo, the silverback male leader of the gorilla troop we found high in the Virungas cloud forest. Unfortunately, a few weeks after we left he was killed by poachers for body part trophies. He was the only gorilla killed by poachers in that area at the time. When he looked at me I saw a deep understanding behind those piercing eyes.
This is a copyrighted image © Dave Welling. All rights are reserved by the copyright holder, Dave Welling. No publication, republication or electronic rights, including, but not limited to, web rights of any kind, are authorized without the express written consent of the copyright holder. For information on licensing, usage, or reproduction of this image, contact Dave Welling at wellingphoto@aol.com.
Uploaded
October 20th, 2009
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