In comparison, western lowland gorillas have shorter hair that is gray or brown with a tendency to red on their heads. The largest living primates, gorillas are stocky animals with broad chests and shoulders, large hands, and forearms that are much shorter than the upper arm. The face is black and hairless, with small eyes that are close together and large, prominent nostrils.Īdult males are identified by a sagittal crest along the midline of the skull and an area of white hair on the back, which is why they are known as ‘silverbacks.’Įastern gorillas are the larger species, and have darker and longer fur, particularly on their arms.

graueri)Īll four subspecies are either Endangered or Critically Endangered, threatened by hunting for bushmeat, habitat loss, wildlife trade, and infectious diseases. Eastern lowland or Grauer’s gorilla ( G.Each has a lowland and upland subspecies. The two gorilla species live in equatorial Africa, separated by about 900km of Congo Basin forest. Tourism dollars are a key part of forest and gorilla protection in this region.Gorillas are our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos. WWF has long worked with local BaAka trackers as part of the habituation program, capitalizing on their knowledge of their forest homeland and their ability to locate the gorillas even when traces of the animals are elusive. “The follow and habituation of gorillas in Dzanga-Sangha would never have been possible without the extensive knowledge of the BaAka trackers, which are the real backbone of our program,” says Chloe Cippoletta, who led the Dzanga-Sangha habituation field staff for years. These opportunities for gorilla viewing are so rare, in part, because it takes three or more years of careful and patient gorilla tracking and following to habituate the animals to the presence of humans. One of the few places that humans can see western lowland gorillas in the wild is the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas in the Central African Republic. Even if all of the threats to western lowland gorillas were removed, scientists calculate that the population would require some 75 years to recover.

Because of poaching and disease, the gorilla’s numbers have declined by more than 60% over the last 20 to 25 years. Large numbers have not protected the western lowland gorilla from decline. They also have wider skulls with more pronounced brow ridges and smaller ears. Western lowland gorillas can be distinguished from other gorilla subspecies by their slightly smaller size, their brown-grey coats and auburn chests. Significant populations still exist, including in isolated swamps and the remote swampy forests of the Republic of Congo. The exact number of western lowland gorillas is not known because they inhabit some of the most dense and remote rainforests in Africa. Populations can be found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea as well as in large areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

The western lowland gorilla is the most numerous and widespread of all gorilla subspecies.

Western lowland gorilla superfamily