Game Aims To Help Save Rwandan Gorillas

A new game for mobile phones raises awareness of the plight of Rwandan mountain gorillas – and raise some money.

It’s actually five years since the video game Silverback was created, but it now has a new, and hopefully productive life as a free download game for mobile phones. Supporters hope that thegame, in which the player guides a mountain gorilla through Virunga National Park, its natural habitat, will help highlight the plight of the endangered animal. The group behind it, Flora and Fauna International (FFI) is making the game available as a free download for Web-enabled phones, but it hopes those who do play it will be willing todonate around $10. Although the park is the province of the gorillas, it’s come under more strain in recent times, FFI’s Africa Co-ordinator Bruce Liggett told the BBC: "Many of the resources the people need – water, fuel, wood, even honey and meat – come from within the national park. There are a lot of pressures on the forestand the gorillas."   That’s bad enough, but regional fighting has exacerbated the situation. "You can’t do anything positive in conservation while there’s a war going on. So thegorillas are not receiving the protection they should."   The game is designed to reflect the real life of a gorilla, explained game designer Ken Banks.   "In the first level, youstart as a baby gorilla – you are lost, you have to find your family and make your way back. Then on subsequent levels you have to fend off rival silverbacks, find yourself a mate, start your ownfamily, lead them to safety, avoid poachers and snares. We try to lead people through the life of a mountain gorilla to give them a sense of the challenges they face both naturally and through humanthreat."