Carl R. Green - Endangered Gorillas

Published in 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.
101 W. 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Katirgis, Jane, author.

Endangered gorillas / Jane Katirgis and Carl R. Green.

pages cm. (Wildlife at risk)

Summary: Discusses gorillas, why they are endangered, and how they are being helpedProvided by publisher.

Audience: Ages 11+.

Audience: Grades 7 to 8.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7660-6898-8 (library binding)

ISBN 978-0-7660-6896-4 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7660-6897-1 (6-pack)

1. GorillaJuvenile literature. 2. Endangered speciesJuvenile literature. 3. GorillaConservation Juvenile literature. I. Green, Carl R., author. II. Title.

QL737.P94K37 2016

599.884dc23

2015009976

Printed in the United States of America

To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all Web site addresses in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those Web sites or on any Web sites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by e-mail to .

Portions of this book originally appeared in the book The Gorilla.

Photos Credits: Ariadne Van Zandbergen/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images, p..

Cover Credits: Ariadne Van Zandbergen/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images (gorillas); Creativ Studio Heinemann/Creative (RF)/Getty Images (borage flowers); Joakim Leroy/E+/Getty Images (palm leaf); Maria Toutoudaki/Photodisk/Getty Images (background paper texture).

GORILLAS AT A GLANCE

Scientific Name

Gorilla gorilla. The species divides into three subspecies: western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla graueri), and mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei).

Closest Relatives

Chimpanzees, bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees), orangutans, and humans.

Current Habitat

Western lowland gorillas are found in west-central Africa. Eastern lowland gorillas live in the eastern part of the Congo. Mountain gorillas roam the Virunga Volcanoes region of east-central Africa.

Size and Weight*

Mountain Gorilla:

Adult Male: Height: 5 ft., 8 in. (1.7 m)

Arm Span: 7 ft., 6 in. (2.3 m)

Weight: 350 lbs. (159 kg)

Adult Female: Height: 5 ft. (1.5 m)

Arm Span: 6 ft., 4 in. (1.9 m)

Weight: 190 lbs. (86 kg)

Diet

Gorillas feed on up to 220 plant species and favor the leaves, shoots, fruit, and stems. A large male can eat 40 pounds (18 kg) of food in a day.

Current Populations

Western lowland gorillasabout 100,000

Eastern lowland gorillasfewer than 3,000

Mountain Gorillasabout 880

Special Adaptations

Gorillas, along with chimpanzees and orangutans, display a capacity for complex learning. Some captive gorillas have been taught to communicate with humans by using sign language.

Life Span

In the wild: about 30 years.

In captivity: 35 years or longer. As many as four out of ten wild gorillas die before their sixth birthday.

Vocalizations

Gorillas produce more than twenty different sounds when excited. The sounds range from soft purrs and grunts to loud screeches and roars.

Main Threats

Loss of habitat, poaching, and exposure to diseases.

Legislative Status

All gorillas, particularly the mountain gorilla, are included on endangered species lists. The Great Apes Conservation Act, passed by the US Congress in 2000, commits the United States to the struggle to save Gorilla gorilla.

Organizations Working to Save the Gorilla

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

International Gorilla Conservation Progamme (IGCP)

Wildlife Conservation Society

World Wildlife Fund

*Figures represent average measurements.

chapter one

MEET GORILLA GORILLA

Have you ever visited a zoo and spent time admiring the gorillas? Perhaps you were delighted by the playful youngsters chasing each other. Or maybe you were intrigued by the thoughtful looks of adults as they stared back at you. It is not surprising that these primates seem so familiar to us. Up to 99 percent of their DNA is the same as human DNA. However, myths in the past have painted a more aggressive picture of these primates.

For the past four hundred years, reports out of Africa painted the gorilla, to quote 1800s explorer Paul du Chaillu, as a hellish dream creature,... half man, half beast.

Hollywood added to the myth in the classic 1933 film King Kong. This is the plot: While shooting on a remote island, filmmakers run into a 30-foot (9-m) gorilla known as King Kong. As the cameras roll, the snarling, chest-thumping Kong storms into a native village. In the panic that follows, Kong grabs young Ann Darrow (played by Fay Wray) and carries her away. Instead of killing her, the great ape falls in love with his prize. Undaunted, the film crew rescues Ann, captures Kong, and takes him back to New York. There, Kong escapes, seizes Ann, and climbs the Empire State Building. The police are forced to call in Navy warplanes. A baffled Kong swats at the planes until machine-gun fire sends him crashing to the pavement far below.

A Better Understanding

The ferocious gorilla myth survived until modern naturalists rewrote it. George Schaller, first on the scene, began his landmark studies in 1959. He ventured into the jungle unarmed despite old stories of gorillas that crushed rifles with their teeth. No animal attacks without good cause, Schaller reasoned. My inclination is to give the charging animal the benefit of the doubt, hoping that it is merely bluffing. The insight turned out to be correct. Schaller lived among gorillas for two years, and never once did a gorilla seriously threaten him.

Schaller detailed his findings in The Mountain Gorilla (1963) and The Year of the Gorilla (1964). Some of his conclusions laid the old myths to rest. First, he found that gorillas are shy, peaceful plant eaters. The scary chest-beating displays the males put on are meant to frighten intruders. If the visitor does not make any threatening moves, the gorillas relax and back away. Dian Fossey, who picked up where Schaller left off, reported similar findings in her book, Gorillas in the Mist (1983). Once she began acting like one of the group, the gorillas accepted her. Fossey imitated their feeding and grooming habits and even learned to belch like a gorilla.

Fast Fact!

Gorillas are color-blind, but their senses of touch, hearing, smell, and taste are very developed.

Schaller and Fosse further blurred the line that divides humans and apes. Gorillas, the naturalists found, use human-like gestures, postures, and expressions. When they wake up in the morning, gorillas stretch and yawn. If upset, they frown. Like any angry two-year-old child, young gorillas throw temper tantrums. Within their family groups, relations tend to be warm and caring. Maybe, scientists reasoned, gorillas can learn to talk.

A Gorilla Named Koko

Photographer Mike Nichols met a new friend some years ago. She welcomed me into her trailer, he writes, and asked what I had in my purse. Did I have a lipstick? A mirror? Could she look at my teeth? Most people would have thought these were strange questions. Nichols, however, felt right at home with Hanabi-Ko, Koko for short. Koko is a western lowland gorilla who talks to visitors in sign language.