The western gorilla is one of the only two species of gorillas left in the whole world. These great apes are left in only 8 countries in Africa ie Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Less attention has been given to the western gorillas since they seem to be more in numbers than their counterparts the Eastern gorillas. This resource aims disseminating information about these great apes so that they can be conserved for the future generations as well. This guide offers unparalleled insight into the threats faced by western gorillas in the wild.
Conservation Status of the Western Gorillas
Will our children live in a world without gorillas?
The vast majority of the world’s gorillas live in the forests of central Africa, not in the mountains of east Africa. Results reported in Leipzig, Germany, at the recent gathering of world’s gorilla experts show that western gorillas are much more diverse then previously recognized. The very survival of these western gorillas is now threatened by a wave of commercial poaching, the experts warn. With immediate investment in law enforcement this decline could be reversed.
Although habitat destruction does contribute to the decline, large-scale commercial poaching threatens to drive western gorillas to extinction. Hunting of gorillas is illegal in all range states, but even in national parks gorillas are not safe. Poaching has reached crisis levels due to the rapid expansion of logging, civil unrest and lack of management capacity. Present conservation activities have not succeeded and the experts consensus is that without truly effective law enforcement western gorillas may go extinct in our lifetimes.
Past international investments have not sufficiently focused on building law enforcement capacity. The world community needs to help range countries enforce existing national and international laws. Although law enforcement has received little attention in central Africa, experience with mountain gorillas shows that it is the foundation for gorilla conservation. Law enforcement should take place at all levels from protected areas, to logging concessions, to cities. In the longer term gorilla conservation should focus on the establishment of a network of effectively managed protected areas funded through sustainable mechanisms such as trust funds. A fund to forever protect the habitat of these amazing animals would cost only about 3 dollars for each person in the developed world.
Diseases
While disease is a natural component of wildlife ecology, evidence suggests that in western equatorial Africa, endemic disease is having a catastrophic effect on great apes.
The Ebola virus has had a devastating impact and may be responsible for a 50–90% decline in western gorilla populations in many parts of Gabon and Congo over recent years. Disease risks posed by humans pose an additional danger. Western gorillas have already been shown to be vulnerable to human pathogens, mainly those associated with respiratory, intestinal and skin diseases.
Only one remaining gorilla stronghold (Loango/Moukalaba-Doudou/Gamba in Gabon) is remote from current or recent Ebola epidemics. The additional threat posed by the commercial trade in bushmeat means that small post-Ebola populations of great apes, are at high risk of being extirpated before their numbers are able to recover.