The only ray of hope for saving gorillas from extinction is conservation. A gradual rise in the population of mountain gorillas has taken place thanks to conservation programs. From the lowest point in 1980 when its numbers were just 254, it has now grown to 880.Similar efforts in the Campo Ma’an National Park in Cameroon and Cross River National Park of Nigeria has held some hope for the tiny population of Cross-river gorillas dwelling there. Recent surveys show that the counts for these apes have not gone below the 300 mark.But applying conservation measures to the lowland gorillas will be far more challenging given their wider habitat coverage. Efforts must be made to save the apes before it's too late. Due to the genetic similarity
between humans and mountain gorillas, gorillas are susceptible to many of the same infectious diseases that affect people. Mountain gorillas are also immunologically naïve to some diseases, meaning they are particularly susceptible to certain human diseases because of their historic isolation from people. Research conducted by the Gorilla Doctors and other scientists has proven that mountain gorillas have died as a result of infections that originated in people. Infectious disease, after trauma, is the leading cause of death in mountain gorillas. The vast majority of tourists who visit the national parks where gorillas live spend a day or two trekking gorillas and then leave. However, all of the gorilla parks offer other amazing wilderness experiences. As with gorilla trekking, the revenue earned through these activities further incentivizes the governments and local people to protect mountain gorilla habitat. You can climb the active Nyiragongo volcano in DR Congo, home to the world’s largest lava lake. As much effort as the governments and conservation organizations put into protecting the gorillas, the support of the local people surrounding the parks is vital to ensure the preservation of gorilla habitat and the conservation of mountain gorillas. The more that local people share in tourism revenue and benefit from nonprofit and community efforts in the area, the more likely they are to want to protect the mountain gorillas. Tourists can help by frequenting local restaurants, shops, and other businesses, or by making contributions to community projects around the park.
“By the time we’re done, it’s quite possible that there will be among the great apes not a single representative left, except, that is, for us,” Kolbert deduces (225). Hunting a species has caused the endangerment and extinction of many species of animals and plants. Six out of eight species of the world’s bears are categorized as “vulnerable” or “endangered” to extinct (222). Advocating for rights of endangered species, and protecting the forests they habitat is a noteworthy method to prevent extinction caused by humans. As an individual, one could help by supporting and donating to organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and more (262). Humans may ease their conscience by not actively killing endangered species, but protecting them
The gorillas live mainly in coastal West Africa in the Congo, Zaire, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Gorillas live in the rain forest. They usually live on the ground but build nest in trees to sleep in. Gorilla troops keep a 15-20 square mile range which often overlaps the range of other troops. There are three different kinds of gorillas. The eastern lowland gorilla the western lowland and the mountain gorilla. They are herbivores and eat only wild celery, roots, tree bark pulp, fruit, stems of many plants and bamboo shoots. They spend nearly half their day eating.
I visited the Sacramento Zoo during the afternoon of April 21, 2017. The weather was wonderful, sunny, warm, and there was a slight breeze. It got a bit more breezy the longer I was there. Visiting the zoo to observe primates allowed me to become a little more aware of how primatologists study primates. Even though I’ve been to many different zoos several different times, I never realized how many primates were associated with the zoos, as well as the variety of primates in the zoos. The Sacramento Zoo has eight different primates, all in different classifications, superfamilies, or subfamilies. While observing the Chimpanzees, White-Handed Gibbon, Mongoose Lemur, White-Faced Saki, and the Wolf’s Guenon I could see the differences
In his book, Planet Without Apes, Stanford introduces readers to apes, shows why the apes are endangered, how similar we are to apes, and why we should protect the apes. He does so in nine chapters – “Save the Apes”, “Heart of Darkness”, “Homeless”, “Bushmeat”, “Outbreak”, “In a Not-So-Gilded Cage”, “The Double-Edged Sword of Ecotourism”, “Ethnocide”, and “May There Always be Apes”. Stanford strategically chooses the name Planet Without the Apes, as a parody of the Hollywood franchise, hoping such a title would capture potential readers’ interests. Stanford does not simply tell us why we need to save the apes – he brings us on a journey with the apes and by the end of the book, we feel compelled to save the apes.
Our earliest ancestors are primates. They are our closest relatives which is why we can see our behavior’s and practices in them. If we observe them we can get a better understanding of them and us, human beings. But unfortunately we all don’t get the chance to see a Primate right in our backdoor. So the best thing I could do for my observation was to visit them at the zoo.
Trustworthiness is an important element in a relationship. It is the groundwork for dependability between two people, and from it, relationships grow and mature. When that trust is shattered, it creates a barrier between the two people. What defines a legal agreement with a business partner from a silly promise made to a child? In a child’s eyes, there is no distinction. A promise is a promise. In Toni Cade Bambara’s “Gorilla, My Love,” the evolving perspective of the distinction between an act of betrayal and the breaking of a juvenile pact is scrutinized through an incident between a child, Hazel, and her uncle, Hunca Bubba.
Throughout situations and research conducted by not only Robert Sapolsky or Jane Goodman, but from many other credited sources, we can blatantly see the, if not identical, similarities between the two species of humans and baboons. The most apparent likewise characteristics of this can be read and documented in Professor Sapolsky’s book, A Primate’s Memoirs. Sapolsky, who spent hundreds if not thousands, of hours studying these Savanna Baboons, sheds a vast insight into ideas of social dominance, mating strategies, instinctual prowess, community settings, hygiene, and reform of an entire generation; many of which can be unknowingly seen directly in the common occurrence of a humans daily life.
On May 28th, 2016 an incredibly endangered Silverback gorilla lost its life because of the lack of responsibility of a mother, and this is something that you cannot bring back. The bottom line is that the mother should have been more responsible of her child especially in a place where wild animals roam. The amount of time the child was away from its mother had to be significant since he had enough time to find his way to get through strong barriers. Zoo officials made the right decision in killing Harambe but the one to blame for his tragic death is the mother of the
Cheetahs have been evolving and adapting themselves to the deserts of the Serengeti for many years. However, cheetahs have never been common in the wild, but they're now in grave danger of becoming extinct, due to loss of habitat, high infant mortality, and hunting by humans for hides. Cheetahs can and should be saved because they have a difficult time surviving on there own due to poor parenting skills, cub mortality, and energy demands. The cheetah is also a very important part of the ecosystem and will be disrupted if the cheetah becomes extinct. Saving the cheetah is very important for their niche as well the niche of others. This amazing creature needs to be saved.
The mountain gorilla was first discovered roaming the Virunga Volcanoes in Rwanda (von Beringe, 2002, p.9). German Captain Robert von Beringe and his African soldiers stumbled upon two mountain gorillas around the volcanic region on October 17, 1902 (von Beringe, 2002, p.9). Von Beringe captured and killed one of them and sent the body to the Zoological Museum in Berlin, Germany. Professor Paul Matschie, who worked with the museum, identified the gorilla as a new class and named it after its founder: Gorilla beringei beringei (von Beringe, 2002, p.10). Twenty-three years later, American naturalist Carl Akeley persuaded King Albert of Belgium to turn a Belgian trust territory, near Rwanda, into a national park for the conservation of mountain gorillas. The Albert National Park, later named the Virunga National Park, was the first park established in Africa (Ngowi, 2002).
An estimated number of 500,000 4 rhinos were roaming across Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 20th century, however this number declined to 70,000 4 by 1970 and down to 29,000 4 rhinos in the wild r...
One of the major causes for primate endangerment is logging. Logging, the harvesting of trees for timber, disrupts the home of many primates such as orangutans, gorillas, red colobus monkeys, howler monkeys, and chimpanzees. Even though there are specific areas that are protected by law, it is not enough to save these primates because illegal logging is very common: “Nevertheless, records for penalizing poachers are often poor, because wildlife protection is rarely a national or even local priority. Corruption can often be an additional major problem that tempts poorly paid and resourced park managers, guards and local authorities to disregard law, thus undermining effective conservation programs,” (Tranquili et al. 2014). Since arboreal primates
Across the earth millions of creatures like the African wild dog are going extinct and one day may become a unknown fable of the past. Ever since the 1900’s african wild dogs have been in danger of becoming extinct because of mass killings and habitat loss. Originally people did not care because they were considered vicious killers but now many wildlife organizations are working to protect the african wild dog. There are many reasons from the past and from today why african wild dogs are going extinct and it is having a large effect on humans and the natural ecosystem. This problem once in africa has become a global problem that the whole world is finding solutions for.
World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union
Great Apes are at the brink of extinction due to deforestation, hunting, and bushmeat trade. Our closest cousins are now viewed as economic commodities rather than valuable agents to the environment and humanity. In order to explore this issue, there must be an examinitation of why primate populations are dwindling, if these populations can replenish themselves, and what measures the international community is taking to alleviate the problem.