WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA INTELLIGENCE UPGRADE

Data coming from Gabon and the Republic of Congo, where 80 percent of the world's gorillas live, reveal that the ape population there has decreased by half between 19.

WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA INTELLIGENCE UPGRADE

In 2003, a group of scientists and conservationists called for an upgrade in the status of gorillas from endangered to critically endangered. Logging roads, built deep into the forests, also allow hunters easy access to remaining gorillas. More and more of their habitat has been cleared to create farms and to supply European and Asian timber companies. The destruction of African forests is another serious threat to gorillas. Sometimes hunters make more money for live infant gorillas than for the remains of dead adults. Female gorillas are also slaughtered, and their infants are captured and sold to private collectors or zoos.

A hunter can receive $30 for the remains of a 400-pound (180-kilogram) male gorilla. Although current international agreements ban the selling or trading of gorillas as pets, illegal capture of the animals continues.Īs human populations swell in Africa, increasing numbers of gorillas are hunted for their meat, known as bush meat. The animals are killed for use as food or trapped for use as pets. Hunting has been the leading threat to gorillas for years. With a population of about 600, the mountain gorilla is the most endangered of the three gorilla subspecies. The mountain gorilla is found in the Virunga Mountains, a range of volcanic mountains stretching across eastern Congo, southwestern Uganda, and northwestern Rwanda. The eastern lowland gorilla, having a population between 3,000 and 5,000, is found primarily in eastern Congo. Its population is estimated to be about 35,000. The western lowland gorilla is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Río Muni (the portion of Equatorial Guinea on the African mainland), Gabon, Congo Republic, and Angola. Habitat and current distributionĪll three gorilla subspecies prefer forest habitats. Scientists have recognized three subspecies of gorilla: the western lowland gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla), the eastern lowland gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla graueri), and the mountain gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla berengei). Female gorillas successfully raise only two to three young during their lives. The young gorilla will remain dependent on its mother for up to three years. She will carry her infant for the first few months of its life, after which time it will begin to crawl and then walk. After a gestation (pregnancy) period of 250 to 270 days, a female gorilla gives birth to a single infant. Young females also leave upon reaching maturity (at about age 8), joining lone males or other groups.īreeding between males and females can take place any time during the year. When young males in the group become mature (at about age 11), they leave to form their own groups. An average group is composed of a dominant mature male (called a silverback) and several females and their young. Highly social animals, gorillas form groups of 5 to 10 members, although larger groups have been documented. At night, gorillas build individual nests from branches and leaves in trees or on the ground. During the dry season (July to August), they may travel almost 1 mile (1.6 kilometers). During the wet season (April to June), the animals may move as little as 1,500 feet (457 meters) a day in search of food. Gorillas are active during the day, foraging for a variety of vines, herbs, leaves, fruit, roots, and bark. Both sexes have small ears, broad nostrils, and a black, hairless face. Males also have a large bone on top of their skull (called the sagittal crest) that supports their massive jaw muscles and gives them their distinctive highįorehead. In males, the hair on the back begins to turn silver after 10 years of age. The color of a gorilla's coat varies from brown-gray to black. Females are smaller, measuring about 5 feet (1.5 meters) in height and weighing between 200 and 250 pounds (91 and 114 kilograms).

It can weigh between 300 and 500 pounds (136 and 227 kilograms). When standing on its hind legs, an average male gorilla measures 5 to 5.75 feet (1.5 to 1.75 meters) high. It is the largest of the living primates, an order of mammals that includes lemurs, monkeys, chimpanzees, orangutans, and human beings. The gorilla is considered the most intelligent land animal other than humans. Range: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda Description and biology

Western lowland gorilla intelligence