Endangered Species: Gorilla

Endangered species: Gorilla The Gorilla is today one of the most endangered species. Some of the reasons for this are human made while few are natural. Their population is fast dwindling. According to scientists, there are only about fifty thousand gorillas left in the African wild. There are just about two thousand five hundred eastern low land gorillas and about six hundred mountain gorillas in the world. The Mountain gorillas are on the verge of extinction.

One of the major reasons responsible for the endangered Gorillas is an increasing loss of habitat. They are primarily terrestrial and live in the tropical rain forests. They are mainly found at the forest edges, clearings, swamps, abandoned fields and wet low land forests. They have been thought to have lived on trees in their evolutionary pasts. With the slow dwindling of greenery and forest cover around the world, the Gorilla is slowly losing its natural habitat. The endangered species of Gorillas live about fifty years in captivity and their life span in the wild is about thirty five years.

Another reason for the endangerment of gorillas is the ever-classical poaching. Gorillas are poached for bush meat or gorilla meat and for other purposes. Gorillas, like tigers are also sometimes hunted for circus use. It is also difficult to maintain exactly how many gorillas are poached, because the poachers kill and butcher the gorillas at the spot.