YARMOUTH PORT, Mass., July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Six endangered Grauer's gorillas were airlifted from a rehabilitation facility in Rwanda to a center in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this weekend.

For the first time, a virus that causes respiratory disease in humans has been linked to the deaths of wild mountain gorillas, reports a team of researchers in the United States and Africa.

Regional authorities said Tuesday that the population of mountain gorillas in their main central African habitat has increased by a quarter in seven years.

What sets mankind's closest relatives — monkeys, apes, and other primates — apart from other animals? According to a new study, one answer is that primates are less susceptible to the seasonal ups and downs — particularly rainfall— that take their toll on other animals.

More than two years after being evacuated following the 2007 killings of their mothers, mountain gorilla babies Ndakasi and Ndeze this week returned home to the Democratic Republic of Congo, moving into a new custom-built forest sanctuary.