These powerful, graceful, iconic animals have attracted worldwide attention for decades. Although there was long considered be just one species of gorilla, the latest DNA evidence indicates that there are in fact two distinct gorilla species: the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) and the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla). The eastern gorilla is made up of the most famously known gorilla sub-species - the mountain gorilla (G.b. beringei), and the eastern lowland gorilla (G.b. graueri). The former occurs at the convergence of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda, while the latter is found only in the DRC. Approximately 1000km westwards in the forests of western equatorial Africa are the western gorillas – the western lowland gorilla (G.g. gorilla), and the isolated Cross River gorilla (G.g. diehli). Some gorilla populations – particularly the mountain gorillas – are the focus of concerted conservation and restoration efforts. However, gorillas as a whole remain in danger of extinction and face a long list of severe threats, including: habitat destruction or modification by deforestation, woodland exploitation, increasing demand for arable land and energy (charcoal), infrastructure development like forest roads, viral epidemics, unstable political climates and hunting and trading in wild bushmeat. Fortunately, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has recognised the urgent need to protect these creatures and has established a Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP) with the aim of identifying the most effective conservation initiatives, and raising the funds and political support needed to achieve these initiatives.Like with any conservation effort, one of the most crucial pieces of the conservation puzzle is basic information about precisely where animals occur today. There is staggeringly little information about the whereabouts of gorillas. For more information visit the MammalMAP virtual museum or blog.
