Essay On Mountain Gorilla

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The members of the Order Primates, Family Hominidae are considered an endangered species. The Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) populations have been diminished to areas of the Virunga Mountains of Central Africa that are found in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Uganda.

Description and Identification
Mountain Gorillas are one of the largest existing primates, second only two its cousin, the Eastern Lowland Gorilla. Males on average grow to weigh 430 pounds and 59 inches tall. Females on the other hand are much smaller compared to males and grow up on average to weigh 220 pounds and 51 inches tall. Mountain gorillas are known for having longer and thicker jet-black fur. Older males are known as silverbacks, because they have a short layer of silver hair on their backs that develops with increased age. Another physiological distinction between male and female mountain gorillas is that the males have larger conical shaped heads. The reason for this is that male mountain gorillas have bony crests on the top and back of their skulls. These gorillas can be distinguished by their nose prints. Each gorilla has a unique nose print and such as the fingerprint is unique for each human being.
Mountain Gorillas are known to walk on two arms and two legs. This is different than being a quadruped because they do not possess four feet since there is a physiological difference between their arms and legs: that being that their arms are longer. They do, however, possess the capability to run on their two legs for short distances.
Distribution and Abundance
The Gorilla beringei beringei species can be found in Central Africa and specifically be found in two areas: the Virunga Vol...

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... mountains. In the Bwindi population, the gorillas are known more for foraging for different fruits and because of this are known to climb trees more often than the members of the Virunga region.
Conservation and Management
There are some reasons that have contributed to why there are less than a 1000 mountain gorillas left in the world. Poaching, habitat loss, and disease play major roles in shaping the population size of the mountain gorillas. Poaching is where adult gorillas are maimed or killed by traps set to abduct infants for illegal selling to zoos and as pets. Increased armed patrolling in the Virunga and Bwindi regions combats this. Due to the lush vegetation in the Virunga and Bwindi regions, there is an increased interest for agriculture in the forest areas and this increased interest has led to habitat loss for the gorilla populations over the years.

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