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Western gorilla

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Western gorilla[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Primates
Family:
Hominidae
Genus:
Gorilla
Species:
G. gorilla
Binomial name
Gorilla gorilla
(Savage, 1847)
Subspecies

G. g. gorilla
G. g. diehli

Western gorilla range

The western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is a great ape and the most populous species of the genus Gorilla.[3]

Taxonomy

Nearly all of the individuals of this taxon belong to the western lowland gorilla subspecies (G. g. gorilla) whose population is approximately 95,000 individuals.[2] Only 250 to 300 of the only other western gorilla subspecies, the Cross River gorilla (G. g. diehli) are thought to remain.[4][5]

Physical description

Compared to its eastern cousin, the western gorilla is slightly shorter, weighs less, has a more slender form, and has lighter colored fur. The western lowland gorilla can be brown or greyish with a yellowish forehead. It also has an overhanging tip on its nose, which the eastern gorilla does not have. Males typically measure 160–170 cm (63–67 in) tall and weigh 140 kg (310 lb).[6][7] Females measure 120–140 cm (47–55 in) tall and weigh 60–80 kg (130–180 lb). The largest western gorillas can weigh up to 200 kg (440 lb) and 98 kg (216 lb) in each sex, respectively.[7][8] The Cross River gorilla differs from the western lowland gorilla in both skull and tooth dimensions. It is also about 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) taller and 20–35 kg (44–77 lb) heavier, but is still smaller and lighter than the mountain gorilla and the eastern lowland gorilla, which is considered the largest subspecies of the gorilla and the largest living primate.

A skull of a male
Male western gorilla

Behavior and ecology

Western gorillas live in groups that vary in size between two and 20 individuals, composed of at least one male, several females and their offspring. A dominant male silverback heads the group, with younger males usually leaving the group when they reach maturity. Females transfer to another group before breeding, which begins at eight to 9 years old; they care for their young infant for the first three to four years of its life. The interval between births, therefore, is long, which partly explains the slow population growth rates that make the western gorilla so vulnerable to poaching. Due to the long gestation time, long period of parental care, and infant mortality, a female gorilla will only give birth to an offspring that survives to maturity every six to eight years. Gorillas are long-lived and may survive for as long as 40 years in the wild. A group's home range may be as large as 30 square km, but is not actively defended. Wild western gorillas are known to use tools.[9]

Western gorillas' diets are high in fiber, including leaves, stems, fruit, piths, flowers, bark, invertebrates, and soil. The frequency of when each of these are consumed depends on the particular gorilla group and the season. Furthermore, different groups of gorillas eat differing numbers and species of plants and invertebrates, suggesting they have a food culture. Fruit comprises most of the gorillas' diets when it is abundant, directly influencing their foraging and ranging patterns. Fruits of the generas Tetrapleura, Chrysophyllum, Dialium, and Landolphia are favored by the gorillas. Low-quality herbs, such as leaves and woody vegetation, are only eaten when fruit is scarce. In the dry season from January to March, when fleshy fruits are few and far between, more fibrous vegetation such as the leaves and bark of the low-quality herbs Palisota and Aframomum are consumed. Of the invertebrates consumed by the gorillas, termites and ants make up the majority. Caterpillars, grubs, and larvae are also consumed in rarity.

Some ethnographic and pharmacological studies have suggested a possible medicinal value in particular foods consumed by the western gorilla. The fruit and seeds of multiple Cola species are consumed. Given the low protein content, the main reason for their consumption may be the stimulating effect of the caffeine in them. Western gorillas inhabiting Gabon have been observed consuming the fruit, stems, and roots of Tabernanthe iboga, which, due to the compound ibogaine in it that acts on the central nervous system, produces hallucinogenic effects. It also has effects comparable to caffeine. [10] There is also evidence for medicinal value for the seed pods of Aframomum melegueta in lowland gorillas' diets, which seem to have some sort of cardiovascular health benefit for lowland gorillas, and are a known part of the natural diets for many wild populations.[11]

A study published in 2007 in the American Journal of Primatology announced the discovery of this species fighting back against possible threats from humans.[12] They "found several instances of gorillas throwing sticks and clumps of grass.[13]" This is unusual, because gorillas usually flee and rarely charge when they encounter humans.

Conservation status

The World Conservation Union lists the western gorilla as critically endangered, the most severe denomination next to global extinction, on its 2007 Red List of Threatened Species. The Ebola virus might be depleting western gorilla populations to a point where their recovery might become impossible, and the virus decimated populations in protected areas by 33% from 1992 to 2007, which may be equal to a decline of 45% for a period of just 20 years spanning 1992 to 2011.[2][3] Poaching, commercial logging and civil wars in the countries that compose the western gorillas' habitat are also threats.[3] Furthermore, reproductive rates are very low, with a maximum intrinsic rate of increase of about 3% and the high levels of decline from hunting and disease-induced mortality have caused declines in population of more than 60% over the last 20 to 25 years. Rather, under the optimistic estimate scenarios, population recovery would require on the order of 75 years. Much sooner, perhaps 20 to 30 years in the future, habitat loss and degradation from agriculture, timber extraction, mining and climate change will become a major threat. Thus, a population reduction of more than 80% over three generations (i.e., 66 years from 1980 to 2046) seems likely. [citation needed]

In the 1980s, a census taken of the gorilla populations in equatorial Africa was thought to be 100,000.[14] Researchers adjusted the figure after years of poaching and deforestation had reduced the population to approximately 50,000.[14] Surveys conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2006 and 2007 found around 125,000 previously unreported gorillas have been living in the swamp forests of Lake Tele Community Reserve and in neighbouring Marantaceae (dryland) forests in the Republic of the Congo. This discovery could more than double the known population of the animals, though the effect that the discovery will have on the gorillas' conservation status is currently unknown.[15] [14] With the new discovery, the current population of western lowland gorillas could be around 150,000–200,000. However, the gorilla remains vulnerable to Ebola, deforestation, and poaching.[14]

Estimates on the number of Cross River gorillas remaining is 250–300 in the wild, concentrated in approximately 9-11 locations.[4] Recent genetic research[16] and field surveys suggest these locations are linked by the occasional migration of individual gorillas. The nearest population of western lowland gorilla is some 250 km away. Both loss of habitat and intense hunting for bushmeat have contributed to the decline of this subspecies. A conservation plan for the Cross River gorilla published in 2007 outlined the most important actions necessary to preserve this subspecies.[17] Richard Black of the BBC has reported[18] the government of Cameroon has created the Takamanda National Park on the border with Nigeria, as an attempt to protect these gorillas. The park now forms part of an important trans-boundary protected area with Nigeria’s Cross River National Park, safeguarding an estimated 115 gorillas—a third of the Cross River gorilla population—along with other rare species.[19] The hope is these gorillas should be able to move between the Takamanda reserve in Cameroon over the border to Nigeria's Cross River National Park.


Genome sequencing

The genome of the Western lowland gorilla has been sequenced.


References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Gorilla gorilla (category)
  1. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 181–182. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b c Template:IUCN2008
  3. ^ a b c Planet Of No Apes? Experts Warn It's Close CBS News Online, 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  4. ^ a b Template:IUCN2008
  5. ^ "Animal Info - Gorilla". AnimalInfo.org. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
  6. ^ Williamson, E.A. and Butynski, T.M. (2009) Gorilla Gorilla In: Butynski, T.M. (Ed) The Mammals of Africa Volume 6. Elsevier Press, In Press
  7. ^ a b Burnie D and Wilson DE (Eds.), Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife. DK Adult (2005), ISBN 0789477645
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ "PLOS Journal "First Observation of Tool Use in Wild Gorillas"". Biology.plosjournals.org. 1 October 2005. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030380. Retrieved 3 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  10. ^ Caldecott, J., Miles, L., eds (2005) World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. Prepared at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. University of California Press, Berkeley, USA.
  11. ^ "Gorilla diet protects heart: grains of paradise". Asknature.org. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  12. ^ Wittiger, L. and Sunderland-Groves, J. 2007. Tool use during display behavior in wild cross river gorillas. American Journal of Primatology 69: 1307.
  13. ^ Science Daily
  14. ^ a b c d CNN (5 August 2008). "More than 100,000 rare gorillas found in Floral Park". CNN. Retrieved 5 August 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  15. ^ Font size Print E-mail Share 33 Comments (5 August 2008). "Thousands Of Rare Gorillas Found In Congo". Cbsnews.com. Retrieved 3 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Bergl, R. A. and Vigilant, L. 2007. Genetic analysis reveals population structure and recent migration within the highly fragmented range of the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). Molecular Ecology 16: 501–516.
  17. ^ Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of the Cross River Gorilla
  18. ^ BBC News website Protection boost for rare gorilla 28 November 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7754544.stm
  19. ^ New National Park Protects World's Rarest Gorilla Newswise, Retrieved on November 28, 2008.

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