Mountain Gorillas (Photo : Reuters)
Already an endangered species, the Mountain Gorillas now have a shot at surviving by the process of inbreeding. Their numbers have steeply declined over the years due to extensive hunting of these animals.
Extensive studies have been performed on the Gorillas by experts, including the genome of the Gorillas. Generally, inbreeding between any species of animals is considered highly dangerous and it is not recommended as it results in gene mutation.
But for these Gorillas who inhabit the mountains of central Africa, no other choice is left now, than to inbreed and increase their numbers, according to Yahoo News. There are only 253 mountain Gorillas left in the Virunga district's volcanic mountain range which is located alongside the border of Uganda in Rwanda.
After the conservation program was started, the researchers managed to increase their population to 480. But this number is also not enough to help them sustain in the eco system and survive on their own, The Silver Ink reported.
In their study, the researchers studied if the small amounts of inbreeding had any adverse effects on the new born Gorilla's health and were quite surprised to note that there were no genetic mutations which were found in the newly born Gorilla. The study involved collection of blood samples of Gorillas of all age groups, which was then compared at a gene level. But also, these newly born Gorillas were at least two times less genetically diverse than the other breeds of Gorillas which are found in West Africa.
The scientists believe that there is absolutely no reason why they should now stop the mountain Gorillas to breed amongst each other and increase their numbers; they have all the right to flourish and live for a long time.
