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AT ABOUT 6:45 A.M., an army-green, open-sided safari truck screeched into the driveway of my hotel in Goma, a city built on lava rock in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A young man with dreadlocks jumped down to greet me. Our destination: Virunga National Park, one of the world’s last havens for the critically endangered mountain gorillas which, growing up to 6 feet tall and weighing nearly 500 pounds, are among the largest primates on earth.

After stopping outside a dilapidated building—nearly every structure in…