Endangered Species
LOWLAND GORILLA

                   An estimated 100,000 lowland gorillas are left in the  wild 
               of West and Central Africa. The western lowland gorilla is 
               the largest of all primates.

               Threats: Civil wars in Central Africa are allowing poachers 
               to destroy  the  already  weak  system  of  national  parks. 
               At the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern Congo, 
                poachers have reduced the gorilla population from 280 in 
               1997 to under 100 today. 
               Their mountain gorilla cousins are even more endangered 
               given their number only in the hundreds.

                   species10.html                                  previous                        main page