Taking a Look at Endangered Primates

With only two hundred and fifty to three hundred left, the critically endangered Cross River Gorilla roams the African forests while on the brink of extinction (Save Our Species). Africa has many populations of primates that are at the least endangered, and the Cross River Gorilla is the closest to extinction and the least studied due to the rarity of observing them. (Save Our Species). These gorillas are confined to small, mountainous areas that have been separated over and over again by fragmentation, furthermore ruining the needed social aspect of the groups and need for vast land (Imong, I., & Robbins, M.), (Save Our Species) The increased hunting and fragmentation of these Gorilla’s habitats has caused a large problem with how the

A few weeks ago, I spent a lovely Monday afternoon observing two different primates at the Santa Ana Zoo. I got to the zoo around two in the afternoon, and to my surprise, the zoo was decently crowded. The Santa Ana Zoo is smaller in comparison to other zoos like the Los Angeles Zoo, but still had a decent amount of animals there. Covering a small 20 acres of land, I came across two primates that fit perfectly for the purposes of this course project. I chose to observe an endangered ape, the white-handed gibbon, and an endangered new world monkey, the golden-headed lion tamarin.

There are many wild animals in the world are in danger. The mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are one of the most threatened species in the world that inherited from monkeys (Macaca Fascicularis) and apes (Hominoidea), which was found in Africa and Arabia about 34-24 millions years ago. Mountain gorillas are Animalia, which phylum is Chordata and class of Mammalia. The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla, which live in two regions in Africa. There are three countries where mountain gorillas live. They are Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. According to National geographic, there are about 700 mountain gorillas remaining in the earth and half of them live in a Virunga mountains in central Africa. In average, they live about 35 years; the standing height of a mountain gorilla is between 4-6 feet. They’re weight usually between 300-485 pounds and they are bit larger than other type of gorillas. Mountain gorilla usually live in a group and head of their group is called ‘silverback’ that is an adult male who grow a patch of silver hair on their back and hips. However, when dominant silverback die, the whole group face hard time to regroup themselves. Female gorilla usually becomes sexually mature before male gorilla. At the age of 7-8 female gorillas become sexually active, however they started to breed few years later. On the other hand, male gorilla starts

During the Eocene epoch, 47,000,000 years ago, one of our ancestors lived in what is now Germany. She was still young, her baby teeth still intact and probably less than a year old. This little girl came to a lake’s edge for a drink of water; cupping the water with her hand she slowly drank the water while holding onto a branch with her other hand. Our ancestor died there when she was overcome by an underground gas bubble that erupted, the fumes leaving her unconscious; she fell into the water and drowned. Her body slowly drifted to the bottom of the lake with a myriad of other creatures. The lake where she was buried eventually filled with mud and algae that turned into oily shale

This book was about the life of apes in their natural habitat that is being destroyed. Stanford highly pushed the idea of extinction and what people are doing to the apes. Stanford explains the threats to the ape's survival and tells us ideas that could help stop or slow down the decline of the ape population. He tells us about the complex cultural, social, economic and

The Gorilla beringei beringei or mountain gorilla, was first discovered on October 17th 1902, by a German officer named Captain Robert von Beringe (Berggorilla and Direkthilfe, 2002). Mountain gorillas play a large role in it’s particular ecosystem through consumption the gorillas control and maintain vegetation that is vital for a healthy environment not only for the primate but also other species that live in the environment as well. Since the discovery of the mountain gorilla much fascination has been drawn toward the species. However, the gentle creature’s population has had a sharp decline from Rwanda’s belief in sumu, poaching, human disease, and unregulated tourism. In efforts to revive the species population from extinction, persistent activism through worldly foundations are helping protect the mountain gorilla species.

Gentle, peaceful & shy are the words that describe gorillas. Gorillas in the mountains & eastern lowland areas are totally vegetarian & eat leaves, fruits, & stems like bamboo. On the other hand, gorillas in the Western lowlands eat small invertebrates & insects apart from plants. It’s anticipated that approximately 80% of gorilla population’s extinct, because of the destruction of their habitat, humans hunting them down & diseases as a result of Ebola

They are very fast and can be able to run within short distances using the most minimal time. It takes less than 10 seconds to run within a distance of approximately 100 meters. While the animals move around they try to monitor the environment as quadrupedally and monitoring of the environment can be able to take as much as up to ten minutes in any case they have doubts of where they are, this alerts them of any predators. Consortship is a situation where the two animals would stay close to each other and monitor the movement and environment of each other. This is done as long as the animals are out in an environment that is not seen as being friendly. The patas can be seen to be less vocal and they move around in silence, they make certain noise only once when they have seen a predator. The noise or the sound takes just a few seconds as long as the danger is taken away

Primates are one of the most interesting mammals on earth, not only because of their complex social structures, but because they hold so many similar characteristics to humans. Primates are often cited as our closest living relatives and on two separate occasions I observed four separate species of primates at the San Diego Zoo that can justify their use of their physical characteristics and behaviors that may be similar as well as different to the other primates and ours.

Dian Fossey was a normal young lady that had the dream of taking part in the research of gorillas in Africa. She attended a conference one evening that was given by Dr. Louis Leaky. Dr. Leaky talked about the enormous problem of keeping the gorillas that roamed the Virunga Mountains of Africa from going extinct. He explained the

Primate conservation has long been a topic of debate, reliant most heavily on the struggle to provide the necessary resources to combat the declining rate of population growth among various species. Orangutans in particular, both Sumatran and Bornean, have experienced a rapid drop in their free-living populations. With an estimate of only 27,000 left in the wild, questions have been raised over what selective pressures are impacting the steady decline of these animals existence. While hunting and poaching have been identified as contributing factors, habitat loss primarily takes center stage in their demise. Conservation efforts have been made and continue to be somewhat successful, however, challenges and set backs continue to threaten

All Throughout Gombe National Park poaching presents the greatest threat to chimpanzee populations. Only up until now is poaching a direct cause for the decrease of chimpanzees seeing how before poaching was not considered a problem around Gombe. Researchers recorded one case of a chimpanzee being killed by poachers in the first 35 years of the study (Chimpanzee). However, in more recent years, there has been an estimated 9 chimpanzees killed by poachers. Some evidence of poaching found in Gombe Park includes observations of snares, humans found with spears, guns and hunting dogs, and the occasional sound of semiautomatic rifle fire (CHIMPNAZEE). Habitat destruction is also an important factor effecting chimp distribution. Although Gombe National Park is a protected area, destruction of the forest around the area still occurs. Thus causing chimpanzees to flee into the already over populated national park, creating inter community aggression among these primates. By 1991 29% of the forest and woodland cover had been converted to farmlands, and by 2003 more than 50% of chimpanzee habitat adjacent to GNP had

With the extinction of many animals and the changing environment due to human activities, conservation methods should be put into action to save the earth and its residents. With so many negative things happening to the environment it is possible that the earth and its resources could run out in the next few generations. One species, the mountain gorillas, contribute greatly to the well being of the earth and needs to be saved. Being the destroyers of the earth, I believe that it our duty to find a way repent for our negligence to our neighbors and environment.

You are sitting at home. You are relaxed. You see something new. You pick it up. You are shot. Dead. This was the case for the Gorilla, Harambe. Harambe a seventeen year old silverback gorilla, was shot dead by Cincinnati Zoo keepers and workers out of fear that he would hurt Isaiah, the little boy that fell into his cage. You would not allow this to happen to your relative, a friend, any human. Right? This is not uncommon as sixteen animals have been shot, while being in captivity, in the last nine years due to human stupidity. There could have been other outcomes to this horrific story if other methods were used to sustain Harambe.

Bwindi Inpenetrable Forest is a national park situated in the south west of Uganda, close to the borders of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. It covers an area of 321 km2 and is largely made up of mountain and forest and is home to a number of flora and fauna. As well as having a diverse array of wildlife, Bwindi is also one of only two places in the world where mountain gorillas are found. This particular type of gorilla is one of the world’s most endangered species, in the mountain gorilla census of 2006, the world population stood at 720, about half of which live in Bwindi. By inviting small groups of tourists to the area to view the gorillas it brings a vital boost to the local and national economy. At present there are five habituated gorilla groups in Bwindi, four tourist and one research, and this report aims to recommend whether or not another group for tourism would be beneficial to the area. I have included evidence both supporting and opposing the possibility of habituating another group of gorillas for tourism in the park and after considering the evidence, I have concluded my recommendations in the following report.