GORILLAS
GORILLAS
The gorilla genus, Gorilla, includes two species and four subspecies.
EASTERN GORILLAS
Genus: Gorilla beringei
Gorilla beringei graueri
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Our earth’s largest primate, the Grauer’s gorilla, is found in the lowland tropical rainforests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa. Its interrupted distribution extends from east of the Lualaba River, westerly through the Mitumba and Itombwe mountain chains, north to Mount Tshiaberimu in…
Gorilla beringei beringei
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
Mountain gorillas are endemic to a small region in Central Africa, known as the Virunga Massif, which spans the countries of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The entire population of these large apes is restricted to a range of about 300 square miles (777 sq. km), which is only about the size of New…
WESTERN GORILLAS
Genus: Gorilla gorilla
Gorilla gorilla diehli
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Cross River gorillas were originally discovered in 1904. In the decades that followed, scientists believed these giant creatures had been hunted to extinction—until their “rediscovery” in the 1980s. Scientists have since identified 11 family groups (or “troops”) living at eight sites with overlapping home ranges across the rugged…
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
The western lowland gorilla is one of two subspecies of western gorilla—the rare Cross River gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli, being the other. The western lowland gorilla is the most widespread of all gorillas, inhabiting the dense and remote tropical rainforests of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic…