Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-11
SCIENCE TO STUDY
AFRICAN GOR|LLAS
IN NATIVE HAUNTS
Belgian Government Grants
Permission for Expedition
Into Sanctuary.
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION
AND YALE COOPERATE
DR.. Harold Bingham to Spend
Nearly a Year in Observing 4
Life of Animals.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.


The Carnegie Institution of Washing
ton is to study the gorilla in his native
haunts.
The Belgian government. it was am
nounced today, has granted permission
to the scientific institution and Yale
University for joint expedition into
the mountain gorilla sanctuary in the
Belgian Kongo
The work will be in charge of DR..
Harold r. Bingham, Yale PSYCHOLOGIST.
who will leave in June for the gorilla
country and spend nearly a year among
them. DR.. Bingham recently was in
Washington making preliminary obser-
Vat1ons OF the three year old gorilla at
the National Geological Park. u.
The gorilla, considered by many an
thropologists as the highest Of all liv.
ing creatures below man, is one of the
least known of all animals. The few
that have been captured alive have not
lived well. No adult animal ever has
been in captivity.
Many Fables Published.
Much that has been published by
travellers now is known to be pure fable.
The gorilla country is difficult to pene-
trate. The great apes seldom are seen,
even by natives. Consequently they
have been pictured as fierce, vindica-
tive creatures who will attack a human
being on sight. Now it is known that
the chief object of the gorilla is to
mind his own business and keep out Of
the way. a.,
The gorilla now has his own little
kingdom in the heart of Africa. This
is the Pare National Albert" an area
of $50 square miles set apart in March,
1925, by royal decree of King Albert
OF Belgium as sanctuary for the
gorillas and other animals that in
habit it.
Protection also was extended TO the
plant life so that this region. which is
peculiarly rich in flora and fauna, will
be preserved for scientific study.
This reserve is situated in the north.
eastern end of the Belgian Congo. be.
tween lake Kivu and Uganda and in
cludes three great volcanoes Mount
Mikeno, Mount Karisimbi, and Mount
Visoke. The mountain gorilla is found
on the lower slopes Of these volcanoes.
Route of Bingham Traced.
DR.. Bingham will proceed directly
to Dar-es-Salaam, the capital of the
British province of Tanganyika on the
IdOt <AAAAOd4l CO0oL dAIO ~ ny u all W
Lake Tanganyika. Then he will go by
boat to the head of the lake and pro-
coed by automobile truck to Lake Kivu.
Crossing this lake. he will proceed
northward about 100 miles through
mountain foothills and dense forests.
his supplies carried on the backs. Of
natives. a.E fAM
This country was visited in 1s2leb by
Carl Akeley, the American artist. sfor
the American Museum of Natural Bis
tory. His trip was to obtain spsci-
mems of the great apes to be exhibit-
ed in the African hall of the museum
and he was successful in finding On the
slopes of Mount Mikeno, gorilles2 in
considerable numbers. He TOOK The
first moving pictures ever taAW7pf
these animals in their wild statA Snd
ne brought out several specimens Nfpr
stuffing.
Akeley was so impressed with the
danger of rapid determination which
menaced the gorillas that, upon his
return to the United States, he set
about enlisting scientists in movement
to protect them. The project OF declar-
ing the country gorilla sanctuary was
presented to Baron de Cartier, the Bel
gian ambassador. by President John
C.. Merriam of the Carnegie Institu-
ton of Washington. who in turn en-
listed the interest of King Albert.
Akeley Dies Near Goal.
AkeIey returned to the gorilla noun
sains in 1926. accompanied by his
wife and a corps of scientific assis-
tants. to explore the reserve and study
the living apes. He died of fever lew
DAYS before reaching his old camp and
was buried there. He is believed TO
have been the last American scientist
to enter the area, although several
European expeditions have gone there:
The gorilla never was numerous anu
now is believed to be declining rapidly
retreating into deeper jungles as the
frontier advances. One race, the west
ern gorilla, occupies an area exteno-
ing from the hilly sections OF the BTU
ish CAMERON southwark along Lne
coast into the northern border OF the
Belgian Congo and eastward as Tar as
the Sanga River. The race wnlcn II.
Bingham will study Is found only az
an altitude of from 5000 to 10000
feet in the Belgian Congo region.
It Is practically impossible for COLI
lectors to obtain specimens in either
of these places without special consent
of the governments. The young male
recently brought to Washington came
| from a little known and almost unpopu-
lated section of Africa. the Spanish
CAMERON, which is so difdcult OF &C
cess that is it seldom visited and Is
the only place where the great apes
are not protected
Hopes for Close Contact.
DR.. Bingham hopes to establish close
and sustained contacts with groups OF
the mountain gorillas, to follow their
movements day and night, to observe
their traits. manner of life and dis
tribution. He is equipped to secure
complete Photographic records. DIR.
Bingham will interfere as little as pos
sible with the normal life of the sane
tuary and will kill no animals unless
1t Is necessary in self defense. He viii
be accompanied by his wife.
The gorilla at liberty, Carnegie Off
Gals point out. may be quite a different
animal than the Gagged specimen. Prac-
ticaily the only. reliable observations OF
the free gorilla published to date are
those of Akeley.
Nearly every one who goes into gorilla
country, Akeley pointed out, has a pic
ture already formed In his mind and
tends to make the fact fit this picture.
He found that the gorilla actually was
neither fierce nor vindictive, and that
II he ever attacked q man it was prob-
ably by accident. The gorilla, he found,
has his own troubles and doesn't go
looking for any.
The apes apparently live in loosely
organized groups, which have some CO.
ordination for defensive purposes. When
one Of these groups becomes familiar
with q man in the neighborhood and
senses that he Is not there to hurt
them, they pay no further attention to
him So InYfr ae he kAef1s At q resneck-