Gorilla Natural History & Conservation Efforts

Antoinette RiveraBaldwin Wallace College

October 14th, 2009

Politics

Economy

Habitats Species

Africa

• A government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (Webster)

Republic

• Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)- Formerly Zaire• Republic of the Congo• Equatorial Guinea• Uganda• Cameroon (With Multiparty Presidential Regime)• Gabon (With Multiparty Presidential Regime)• Nigeria (Federal Republic)• Rwanda (Presidential, Multiparty System)

Republic

African Union (AU)

• Pan-African Parliament• Peace and Security Council• African Development Bank• Economic Community of West African States• Southern African Development Community

Trade$ Imports:

$ DRC: Consumer goods, foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels.

$ Uganda: Petroleum products, machinery, cotton piece goods, metals, transportation equipment, food.

$ Rwanda: Textiles, foodstuff, machines, and equipment, capital goods, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction.

$ Nigeria: Machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and animals.

$ Exports:$ DRC: Copper, coffee, diamonds, cobalt, crude oil.$ Uganda: Coffee, cotton, tea. $ Rwanda: Coffee, tea, tin ore, tungsten ore, pyrethrum. $ Nigeria: Oil, cocoa, rubber.

Mining for electronics

• Coltan coats capacitators inmany electronics.

Land Use$ Agriculture

$ DRC: Coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products

$ Uganda: Coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry.

$ Rwanda: Coffee, tea, pyrethrum, bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock

$ Nigeria: Cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, rubber, corn, rice, sorghum, millet. cassava (tapioca),

yams; cattle, sheep, goat, pigs; fishing and forest resources extensively exploited.

$ Natural Resources$ Uganda: Sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement. $ Rwanda: Mining of tin ore, and tungsten ore, cement, agricultural processing,

small-scale beverage production, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes.

$ Nigeria: Crude oil, coal, tin, columbite (COLTAN), palm oil, peanuts, cotton,

rubber, wood, hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food

products, footwear, chemicals, ceramics, fertilizer, steel.

Volcanoes Dry Lakes Desert

Rainforest & Mountain

Grassland Swamps

Habitats

Habitats

African Endangered Species196

Mammals

119 Fish

116 Birds

51 Amphibian42 Plant41 Insect38 Snail35 Reptile13 Crustacean7 Coral2 Worm

2009 numbers from IUCN

Eastern GorillasGorilla beringei

Western GorillasGorilla gorilla

Cross RiverGorilla g. diehli

Western Lowland

Gorilla g. gorilla

Eastern Lowland (Grauer’s)

Gorilla b. graueri

MountainGorilla b. beringei

Eastern: Mountain

Eastern: MountainScientific Name: Gorilla beringei beringeiHabitat: bamboo forest, dense ground cover and little canopy cover Food: varies with altitude, Bwindi gorillas incorporate fruitHow to tell them apart from other have significantly longer hair, longer faces and broader chests

Eastern: MountainWhere they live: Rwanda and DRC (Virunga Mountains), Uganda (Bwindi Impenetrable National Park), How many are left:380

Major Threat: militias, high human population density, war, habitat destruction, charcoal, poaching

Eastern: Lowland (Grauer's)

Eastern: LowlandScientific Name: Gorilla beringei graueriHabitat: lowland tropical rainforest habitat through transitional habitatsFood: herbaceous vegetation, as well as on fruitHow to tell them apart from other species :longer faces and broader chests, less hair than mountain gorillas

Eastern: LowlandWhere they live: DRCHow many are left: between 5,500 and 28,000 (2007)

Major threat: habitat destruction, illegal mining, high demand for bush meat, political unrest, charcoal.

Western: Lowland

Western: LowlandScientific Name: Gorilla gorilla gorillaHabitat: lowland tropical forest, dense ground-level growth, and swamp forestsFood: pith, leaves and shootsHow to tell them apart from other species: have brown, not black, hair on their heads, head has very sloped crest

Western: LowlandWhere they live: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, DRCHow many are left: Not Known

Major Threat: no protection, Ebola, Commercial hunting, logging, climate change

Western: Cross River

Western: Cross RiverScientific Name: Gorilla gorilla diehliHabitat: hilly areas, and from lowland to submontane forestsFood: pith, leaves and shoots and fruitsHow to tell them apart from other species: have brown, not black, hair on their heads, head not as sloped as the lowland gorillas

Western: Cross RiverWhere they live: Nigeria, CameroonHow many are left: Approx 300

Major Threat: Hunting, Loss of Habitat

Conservation Hindrances

Political Unrest• Genocide• War

Wildlife Tourism• Disease• Disruption

Black Market and Bush Meat Trade• Food• Fur• Hands/feet• Pets/Private Zoos

Habitat loss• Charcoal• Cell Phones

Current Efforts

• Gorilla Foundation• WWF• Year of the Gorilla Efforts• WAZA- World Association of Zoos and Aquariums• UNEP- The United Nations Environment Programme• CMS- Convention on the Conservation of Migratory

Species• UNESCO-GRASP-United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization- Great Ape Survival Partnership• Eco-cell

WHAT WE CAN DO!!!

• Recycle Cell phones and any electronics• Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009• Contribute to Year of the Gorilla Conservation Projects

IGCP• Donate to efforts mentioned above• Write to government officials through WWF about Gorilla protection

Any Questions?

References• http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/12/gorilla-massacre/massacre-video-intera

ctive

• http://igcp.org/ • http://gorilla.cd/ • http://www.hmnet.com/africa/1africa.html• http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/virunga/timeline-interactive • http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/gorilla/taxon• http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/2_2climates.html• http://www.yog2009.org/• http://www.gorillassp.org• http://nothoney.com/2008/01/28/political-unrest-in-africa-spurs-poachers-wildlife-u

nder-threat/• http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2008/July/20080711150646mlenuhret0.9

135401.html• http://diglib1.amnh.org/articles/Africa/Africa_environment.html• http://primatology.net/2006/07/16/cell-phones-mining-new-threats-to-gorilla-popul

ations/• http://www.iucnredlist.org• http://www.actforcongo.com/coltan• Audoban. Sept 1990- Farewell to Africa p.51