KAHUNGYE KING

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Once the art is purchased, the artist will contact you to arrange shipping and to make arrangements for the shipping payment. They are also happy to chat and answer any questions you might have.

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Born and raised in Zimbabwe, my passion for the wilds of Africa started at an early age. Some of my earliest memories include waking up for early morning drives in Hwange National Park or sitting for hours at one of the numerous waterholes, to see what came to drink. I was in my element. Art came as a by-product of this love for nature and a way to express this passion. From childhood, I was sketching my favourite animals, trying to replicate pictures from the numerous field guides I had started to collect. At Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, this hobby was then honed, when I completed a Fine Art degree. Although I focused on photography, I never gave up drawing and sketching. My Photography helped inform my drawing and conceptualise pieces I had in my mind’s eye. Whilst living and working in London, I have continued to work on my drawing and photography, taking every opportunity I can to get out in the field. Completing field and trails guide qualifications in South Africa in 2015, gave me an even greater appreciation for the natural world, which I now try to incorporate into my work. I have always been drawn to the nostalgia of monochrome imagery, especially in photography, and feel that informed my approach to my artworks. Although being colour-blind, this also comes in quite handy! That said, the simplicity that this approach allows is something I have always found appealing and is a feature I strive for in my works.

Eastern Gorillas (Gorilla beringei) live in the mountainous forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, northwest Rwanda and southwest Uganda. This region was the epicentre of Africa’s “world war”, to which Gorillas have also fallen victim. The Mountain Gorilla subspecies (Gorilla beringei beringei), was listed as Critically Endangered since 1996. Although a drastic reduction of the Grauer’s Gorilla subspecies (Gorilla beringei graueri), has long been suspected, quantitative evidence of the decline has been lacking (Robbins and Williamson 2008). During the past 20 years, Grauer’s Gorillas have been severely affected by human activities, most notably poaching for bushmeat associated with artisanal mining camps and for commercial trade (Plumptre et al. 2016). This illegal hunting has been facilitated by a proliferation of firearms resulting from widespread insecurity in the region. Previously estimated to number around 16,900 individuals, recent surveys show that Grauer’s Gorilla numbers have dropped to only 3,800 individuals – a 77% reduction in just one generation (ibid.) This rate of population loss is almost three times above that which qualifies a species as Critically Endangered. Mountain Gorillas have been faring substantially better; one of the two subpopulations is recovering from an all-time low in the 1980s, making Mountain Gorillas the only great ape taxon that has been increasing in number (Gray et al. 2013). A 2015–2016, survey of the Virunga population has confirmed that it is still growing and has now increased to over 600 individuals, bringing the total population to roughly 1,000 (Hickey et al. 2018). Grauer’s Gorillas continue to decline at an average rate of 5% per year (Plumptre et al. 2016). Even with the growth of the Mountain Gorilla subspecies, the overall decline of the Eastern Gorilla species is expected to exceed 80% over three generations due to the high levels of poaching, loss of habitat as human populations expand, and civil unrest and lawlessness in parts of this species’ geographic range. If unabated, in 2054, only 14% of the 1994 population will remain. Therefore, Eastern Gorillas qualify as Critically Endangered under criterion A (A4bcd). SOURCE: IUCN REDLSIT

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