Cross River Gorilla Is Critically Endangered. Here Is What You Can Do To Help Africa's Most Vulnerable Great Ape
Cross River gorilla is in danger of extinction.
In January 5, 2016, a survey by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that less than 300 mature individuals were left in the wild. Up to 59% of their population have declined between 1995 and 2010 and has continued to decline at an alarming rate.
The Cross River gorillas which roam the forested hills and mountains of the Cameroon-Nigeria border region at the headwaters of the Cross River (Nigeria) – have been regarded as the world's rarest—and most camera shy—great ape.
It is the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla, numbering fewer than 300 individuals across its entire range in Cameroon and Nigeria. It is one of two subspecies of western gorilla, the other being the western lowland gorilla.
Cross River gorilla is so rare that it was first captured on professional video in 2009 by a film crew from the Hamburg-based NDR Naturfilm with assistance of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Cameroon Program.
Cross River gorillas are under threat from humans who hunt them and convert their dwelling place into settlements, roads, bridges, agricultural and grazing land.
In fact, their habitats have been cut into pieces and reduced below ordinary standards, leaving the Cross River gorillas without suitable homes as human activities continue to disrupt the ecosystem.
Cross River gorillas are also still dealing with the harmful gorilla pet trade and the current combined threat caused by hunting and infection with Ebola.
According to IUCN, the lack of effective protected area management throughout much of the range of the animal, as well as absent of protected status for much of the Gorillas’ habitat in Cameroon has threatened the future availability of suitable habitat for the population.
On top of everything, the Cross River Gorilla population has not fully recovered from habitat shifting and alteration which limit migration between subpopulations, and therefore causes more inbreeding within a single population leading to the loss of genetic diversity.
Since 2009, EurekAlert! reported that several funders have set out to conserve Cross River gorillas.
Find more about the current conservation efforts, and ways you can help, below.
Cross River Gorilla Programme
Cross River Gorilla Programme team are working to provide long term security to the populations of the Cross River gorillas and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees and their habitats through research and the implementation of a community based management strategy.
According to the organisation, Cross River Gorilla Programme also carry out local conservation education programmes in communities and schools as well as an international campaign to increase on the dire situation and importance of conservation of these species.
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World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
WWF team work with Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (TRAFFIC), and the World Conservation Union to monitor the illegal trade of gorillas and other great apes.
The organisation also advocates for nations to more effectively enforce wildlife laws and raises awareness in local villages of the dangers of eating bushmeat.
WWF said it has trained local wildlife authorities in modern methods of antipoaching and gorilla monitoring and provided equipment and provisions for antipoaching teams in several nations.
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North Carolina Zoo
North Carolina Zoo is partnering with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Nigeria to train, equip and support rangers to better protect Cross River gorillas in the wild.
North Carolina Zoo has also been working to save Cross River gorillas by supporting better protection in the wild and by researching the threat posed by diseases to the animals.
Their conservation efforts have served as an umbrella for the rest of the region’s biodiversity, with action taken to preserve the gorillas helping to ensure the conservation of many other plant and animal species.
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