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Western gorilla

(Gorilla gorilla)

Savage, 1847

Cross River Gorilla

(Gorilla gorilla diehli)

(Matschie, 1904; Sarmiento and Oates, 2000)

Red List:

Critically Endangered

Distribution:

Nigeria (Cross River State only) and Cameroon

(SW Province only).

CITES:

Appendix I since 1975

CMS:

Annex 1 since 2005

Population:

Fewer than 300, in 11 sub-populations this is the

most endangered kind of gorilla. In the 1970s it was thought

to be extinct in Nigeria and heading that way in Cameroon, but

recent surveys conclude there are 75–110 individuals in Nigeria

and 125–185 in Cameroon (Oates

et al.

, 2007). The Cross River

Gorilla featured in the IUCN list of the World’s 25 Most Endan-

gered Primates 2008–2010.

Western Lowland Gorilla

(Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

(Savage, 1847)

Red List:

Critically Endangered

Distribution:

Angola (Cabinda only), Cameroon, Central Af-

rican Republic, Congo, DRC (far western border near Cabinda

only), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon.

CITES:

Appendix I since 1975

CMS:

Annex 1 since 2005

Population:

Fewer than 200,000. In 2008 the discovery of

previously uncounted gorilla populations with higher than

expected densities in northern Congo led to a reappraisal of

the number of Western Lowland Gorillas. The widely reported

figure of 125,000 ‘lost’ gorillas was erroneous because at least

46,000 of this number had previously been counted (Stokes,

et al.

, 2008). Nonetheless, the dense populations reported from

Raphia

swamps boosted population estimates to twice the pre-

vious estimate. This should not detract from the seriousness

of the declines reported by Walsh,

et al.

, 2003 (a 50 per cent

decline in Gabon due to a combination of ebola and bushmeat

hunting). The fact that ebola outbreaks pose a more serious

threat to dense populations and the continuing threat of com-

mercial bushmeat hunters led the IUCN Red List Assessment

to retain the Critically Endangered status despite the revised

population estimate.