Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Gorilla Beringei Graueri
Description
The Eastern Lowland Gorilla is the largest of the 4 gorilla species.Despite that they mostly feed on fruits and other herbacious substances. Other than size they are destinguished by their short snout and pointy head. The gorilla's thumbs are larger than the fingers. The face, ears, hands, and feet are bare, and the chest in old males lacks hair. As males age they begin to lose hair just as a human does, elders lose the hair on top of their head and chest.
Adult Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Congo is the 2nd largest country in Africa with over 75 million people.
Infant Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Threats
They are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and only around 5,000 or so are left in the wild. While only a single female is held in captivity in the Antwerp Zoo in Belgium. Most of the wild gorilla's are found in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, where even there they are still consistantly taking blows. They suffer from massive deforestation, only roughly 13% of the forestland in 1990 is still around. Poaching takes a huge toll on the gorillas as well, even in national parks. Illegal mining crews searching for tin, gold, diamond and especially coltan make it easy to get inside and out without detection. You can help to prevent these animals from going extinct simply by visiting Worldwildlife.org, they provide a microphone to speak up with their "Action Center", they have the option of donating and/or buying a package to help provide money to the cause.