POPULATION

Fewer than 4,000 remain. Down from 17,000 in the mid-1990s.

THE THREAT

Civil conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has left national parks in a state of neglect, with poaching for bushmeat and illegal mining for coltan - used in mobile phones - destroying habitat at an alarming rate. The gorillas' range has shrunk to just 13% of its historic size.

ABOUT THIS PAINTING

“Beautiful, gentle, powerful, vanishing. I painted this one first because it says everything the series needs to say. Not just a statistic. Not just a symbol. These extraordinary animals exist and we are choosing to lose them.”

THE HOPE

The GRACE Center in the DRC operates the world's only sanctuary for eastern lowland gorillas, working to rehabilitate orphaned individuals and return them to the wild.

LEARN MORE

→ gorillas.org

→ gracecenter.org

Art is the lens. Conservation is the reason.