Eco-Guards Work To Protect Gorillas In The Congo So They Won't Go Extinct On Our Watch

Not on Our Watch: Keeping the Congo's Gorillas from Extinction from Austin Haeberle on Vimeo.

Nat Geo WILD's second annual "Wild To Inspire" short film competition is underway.

The Huffington Post is featuring each of the four finalists selected, and the winner will be announced in March. All of the films showcase stunning images of the wild world around us in line with this year's theme: Destination Wild.

Filmmakers Austin Haeberle and Wendy Jacques chronicle the growing respect and protection being afforded to native gorillas in the Republic of the Congo; animals once seen as a prime source of bushmeat. Their film, "Not on our Watch: Keeping the Congo's Gorillas from Extinction" features an incredible interview with Mobie Prime, an "eco-guard" at the Lesio-Louna Natural Forest who says the gorillas are like his "own kids."

"Gorillas are just like little kids," Prime says in the film. "They speak. They cry. Show happiness, and spend their time playing. They're just like children."

Take a look at "Not On Our Watch" above. You can check out the other films, including Jake Lamons' "Northern," Filipe DeAndrade's short, "Adapt," and Alex Goetz's film "Living Isle," here.