A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the North Carolina Zoo shows that the world's rarest gorilla, the Cross River subspecies (Gorilla gorilla diehli) has more room to expand than previously thought. The gorillas live in the mountains on the border of Nigeria and Cameroon in an area 50% larger than previously documented. The study shows the importance of maintaining wildlife corridors so fragmented groups can connect. There are 11 known locations were gorrillas live, but the habitat has been interrupted by farmland and other forms of human development. Genetic comparisons show that these locations are linked by the occasional migration of individual gorillas. A study in 2005 documented the use of tools by these shy forest dwellers. There are fewer than 300 individuals remaining in the wild. A third of these live in the transnational-boundary protected area of Takamanda-Cross River National Parks. The Cross River gorilla is listed as critically endangered since it lives in an area of heavy natural resource exploitation and hunting for bushmeat.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
World's Rarest Gorilla Has Space to Expand
A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the North Carolina Zoo shows that the world's rarest gorilla, the Cross River subspecies (Gorilla gorilla diehli) has more room to expand than previously thought. The gorillas live in the mountains on the border of Nigeria and Cameroon in an area 50% larger than previously documented. The study shows the importance of maintaining wildlife corridors so fragmented groups can connect. There are 11 known locations were gorrillas live, but the habitat has been interrupted by farmland and other forms of human development. Genetic comparisons show that these locations are linked by the occasional migration of individual gorillas. A study in 2005 documented the use of tools by these shy forest dwellers. There are fewer than 300 individuals remaining in the wild. A third of these live in the transnational-boundary protected area of Takamanda-Cross River National Parks. The Cross River gorilla is listed as critically endangered since it lives in an area of heavy natural resource exploitation and hunting for bushmeat.