Saving the Cross River Gorilla
March 20, 2012
Nyango is the only known Cross River gorilla in captivity. She lives in the Limbe Wildlife Center in Cameroon.
The U.S. is helping to save an elusive and endangered species of gorilla in West Africa. The Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Conservation Society have developed a five-year plan to ensure the survival of the primate.
Dirck Byler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service said the Cross River gorilla is not as well-known as its relatives in other parts of Africa.
Critically endangered
“There’s two different species of gorilla actually. There’s the western gorilla and the eastern gorilla. And the one that people are most familiar with are the eastern gorillas, specifically the subspecies known as the mountain gorilla, which is found in Rwanda and Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The western gorilla is found in the western part of the Congo Basin in countries such as Cameroon, Gabon, northern Republic of the Congo. And then one of their subspecies is called the Cross River gorilla. And this is the most endangered gorilla species today,” he said.
In fact, the Cross River gorilla has been classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the IUCN.
“It’s much more endangered than the mountain gorilla is and unfortunately hasn’t received as much attention over the years,” said Byler.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25