How Many Gorillas Are Left In The World?
How many gorillas are left in the world? Fewer than 200,000 according to the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. With their habitat rapidly shrinking and numbers declining at an alarming rate, it’s important to understand why these endangered primates are disappearing so quickly and what we can do to help stop the decline in their numbers before it’s too late. Here’s what you need to know about the vanishing gorillas around the world, including how many there are left, why they’re disappearing, and how we can save them from extinction.
Gorillas are the greatest of the ape family, considered to be herbivores so they mainly feed on vegetation (though some are omnivores and feed on some small animals for flesh). This is why they are majorly found in the tropical woods of equatorial Africa. Though sometimes found deep within the forests, they spend most of their time on the ground. The eastern and western gorillas, as well as perhaps four or five subspecies, make up the genus Gorilla. After the chimpanzees and bonobos, the gorilla is considered to be the second closest living relative to humans. This is due to the scientific fact that they share 95 to 99% of our DNA, depending on what is included in the comparison.
Currently, there are two primary species of gorillas. They are referred to as the western and eastern gorillas, respectively. It is significant to note that there are two subspecies of each of these animals. The eastern gorilla species includes both the famous mountain gorilla and Eastern lowland gorillas. The western gorilla species is made up of cross-river gorillas and western lowland gorillas. The only differences between these two species are their sizes and the way they generate different noises during communication. Another difference may be in the habitat location where they are located or where they live. The eastern gorilla has the propensity to be larger than the western gorilla. They are all however connected by the destruction of their natural environments.
How many Gorillas are left in the world?
Unfortunately, all the above species of gorillas are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as among the most critically endangered species of mammals. This has been observed over the past few decades through major factors like the destruction of their habitats, diseases, and poaching which have had a great impact on the reduction in the number of gorillas. So, with this well said, the big question remains: how many gorillas are left in the world? Well, the number of western gorillas in the wild is estimated to be around 100,000 to 200,000 and the number of eastern gorillas is estimated to be in the range of 5,000.
If the number is to be broken down into its respective subspecies, the Eastern Lowland Gorilla numbers are about 5,000, the famous Mountain Gorillas go for about 900, Western Lowland Gorillas are about 100,000 and finally, the Cross River Gorillas: about 200 to 300. While these numbers may seem to be large, it is again important to remember that the gorilla population has declined significantly over the past few decades. It is estimated that the population has decreased by more than 60% since the 1960s. This decline is largely due to habitat loss and poaching.
The Famous Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla Beringei)
Mountain gorillas as noted before are part of the Eastern gorilla species (Gorilla beringei). They are found in the Virunga Mountains of Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. The area is home to roughly 880 mountain gorillas. Due to habitat destruction/encroachment for farmland and human settlement, and poaching for bushmeat, these numbers have declined by over 70% over the past two decades.
There are two main threats to mountain gorillas: habitat destruction and poaching for bushmeat. Habitat destruction occurs when humans cut down forests to create farmland or settlements. This reduces the amount of food that would otherwise be available for the mountain gorilla’s main prey – monkeys, who live in trees that humans cut down – as well as impacts their water supply from natural springs that run through the mountains where they live. Other factors are affiliated with the illegal cutting of trees for charcoal burning, lumbering, and illegal mining.
One of the most fascinating animals in the world is the mountain gorilla. Because they resemble us, humans, in appearance and social structure, encounters with these great apes are regarded as among the best wildlife experiences. Only Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are home to mountain gorillas. Mountain gorilla sightings are most common in Uganda, as the country hosts more than half of the remaining mountain gorillas. This makes the Uganda Gorilla Safaris very common as guests can track these great apes in Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks. Mountain gorillas can be found in Virunga National Park in DR Congo and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. The Mountain gorillas can be distinguished from the brownish western and eastern lowland gorillas by their distinctive thick black fur. In comparison to their lowland counterparts, they also have shorter arms.
Wild mountain gorillas are trained to become acclimated to humans through a procedure called “gorilla habituation.” Gorilla habituation may take two to three years to complete, during which time researchers continue to make daily visits to a known troop of wild gorillas. They gain more knowledge about specific gorillas’ personalities and behavior. Each individual gorilla eventually receives a name as they grow used to the researchers over time. Once scientists are certain that these mountain gorillas can be walked, they set up a mock exercise with a small number of visitors, which may include media and scientists. A gorilla family is made available for trekking once it has successfully completed a mock exercise.
The Eastern Lowland Gorilla
The largest of the four-gorilla subspecies is considered to be the eastern lowland gorilla, also referred to as Grauer’s gorilla. It differs from other gorillas by having a short muzzle, huge hands, and a stocky build. Like other gorilla subspecies, eastern lowland gorillas primarily eat fruit and other herbaceous materials despite their large size.
The eastern lowland gorillas as well as the mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have both suffered as a result of years of civil unrest. In the eastern DRC’s lowland tropical rainforests, the eastern lowland gorilla makes its home. Its range was 8,100 square miles, almost five decades ago, but it has slowly reduced to only about 4,600 square miles. Only 13% of this subspecies’ historical range may still be present now. In the middle of the 1990s, there were close to 17,000 eastern lowland gorillas, but biologists believe that since then, the population has decreased by more than 50%.
Since there has been violence in the area, it has been impossible to count the animals accurately.
The Western Lowland Gorilla
Western lowland gorillas are one of the most endangered of the great apes. Though the exact number of western lowland gorillas is not known because they inhabit some of the densest and most remote rainforests in Africa, they are estimated to be only about 100,000 Western lowland gorillas left in the world, and their numbers continue to decline due to habitat destruction and poaching. These animals are found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Due to deforestation and war in these countries, there is little hope for them being able to recover any time soon. Poaching is a huge threat that they face because when they are killed for bushmeat or as bycatch it harms the population size.
The slightly smaller size, brown-grey coats, and reddish chests are some of the features that set apart western lowland gorillas from other gorilla subspecies. They also have smaller ears and larger heads with stronger brow ridges. The western lowland gorilla has not been kept from declining despite its large population. Over the past 20 to 25 years, the number of gorillas has decreased by more than 60% as a result of sickness and poaching as stated earlier. Scientists estimate that it would take the population of western lowland gorillas about 75 years to recover even if all of the dangers were eliminated.
The Cross River Gorilla
As of January 2017 census, there are only about 250 Cross River gorillas left in the world. These gorillas live mostly in Cameroon and Nigeria. They were first discovered in 1904 by Gustav Nachtigal, and named after the river that separates these two countries. Cross River gorillas are not only endangered by poaching or habitat loss but they are also threatened by diseases from humans. It is estimated that more than 50% of them have died from human diseases like malaria and Ebola. To save the remaining Cross River gorillas, both countries need to work together to reduce poaching, increase awareness of their population decline, and create a sanctuary for them.
Gorillas in captivity (Zoos & Sanctuaries)
Although most gorillas live in the wild, there are some of the gorillas that reside in zoos in North America and Europe or in African sanctuaries. There are no gorilla sanctuaries outside of Africa at the moment. The gorillas in zoos are all Western lowland gorillas. Western lowland gorillas Koko and Ndume once resided at the Gorilla Foundation in Northern California.
Photo Credit: The Gorilla Foundation
On the Hawaiian island of Maui, The Gorilla Foundation has 71 acres of gorgeous tropical land that is leased (and paid for) till 2058 with an option to buy the land and maybe more of the surrounding territory. Koko and Ndume, two gorillas, originally planned to live here in a future refuge. For those gorillas who aren’t yet adjusting to zoo life, a refuge is still urgently needed, even after Koko passed away in 2018 and Ndume was moved to the Cincinnati Zoo in 2019. To finally materialize the KokoMaui Sanctuary as a significant component of Koko’s legacy, we are therefore looking into collaborations.
Major reasons for Gorilla extinction
Even though all four gorilla subspecies face dangers, these risks differ in their seriousness and kind depending on where the gorillas are found. Wild gorilla populations are in danger from a variety of factors, such as habitat degradation, disease, and hunting.
Hunting: One of the biggest challenges to the population is gorilla poaching. Gorilla hunting, killing, and consumption are prohibited, but the illegal bushmeat trade has destroyed many of the animals. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) claims that gorillas are also a target of opportunistic hunters, traps intended for other animals, and poachers. Lowland gorilla poaching has increased as a result of better access to deep woods provided by new logging and mining routes.
Loss of Habitat: All great apes, including gorillas, are threatened by habitat loss, though the severity of the threat varies depending on the region. For example, plantations and industrial mining isolate gorilla populations by directly destroying forest ecosystems. Human settlements, including illegal logging, agricultural expansion, and pasture expansion, are responsible for the majority of the loss of habitat for the Cross River and eastern gorillas. Reports state that between 1995 and 2010, 59% of the Cross River gorilla habitat was lost.
Diseases: The other most common reason for reductions in western lowland gorilla populations, according to the IUCN, is sickness. The Ebola virus has specifically killed great apes since the 1980s, frequently with 95% mortality rates. Eastern and Cross River gorillas are both at risk of contracting human diseases.
In Conclusion, the question of how many gorillas is left in the world is a very important question that is difficult to answer. One of the reasons for the difficulty is that no one has ever done a complete census of gorillas in the world. However, it’s the estimates are done from the different smaller censuses done in different regions of the world. But the fact remains that the gorillas are disappearing quickly and will soon be gone if we don’t do anything to stop it.