Virunga Mountain Gorilla

The Gorilla beringei beringei or mountain gorilla, was first discovered on October 17th 1902, by a German officer named Captain Robert von Beringe (Berggorilla and Direkthilfe, 2002). Mountain gorillas play a large role in it’s particular ecosystem through consumption the gorillas control and maintain vegetation that is vital for a healthy environment not only for the primate but also other species that live in the environment as well. Since the discovery of the mountain gorilla much fascination has been drawn toward the species. However, the gentle creature’s population has had a sharp decline from Rwanda’s belief in sumu, poaching, human disease, and unregulated tourism. In efforts to revive the species population from extinction, persistent activism through worldly foundations are helping protect the mountain gorilla species.

“In their natural homes in the wild, chimpanzees humans’ closest living genetic relatives”, who are more like us than they’re like gorillas are never separated from their families and troops . “Profoundly social beings, they spend every day together exploring, crafting and using tools to solve problems, foraging, playing, grooming each other, and making soft nests for sleeping each night” . They care deeply for their families and forge lifelong friendships . Chimpanzee mothers are loving and protective, nursing their infants and sharing their nests with them for four to six years . They have excellent memories and share cultural traditions with their children and peers . They empathize with one another and console their friends when they’re upset . They help others, even at a personal cost to themselves . When one of another

With only two hundred and fifty to three hundred left, the critically endangered Cross River Gorilla roams the African forests while on the brink of extinction (Save Our Species). Africa has many populations of primates that are at the least endangered, and the Cross River Gorilla is the closest to extinction and the least studied due to the rarity of observing them. (Save Our Species). These gorillas are confined to small, mountainous areas that have been separated over and over again by fragmentation, furthermore ruining the needed social aspect of the groups and need for vast land (Imong, I., & Robbins, M.), (Save Our Species) The increased hunting and fragmentation of these Gorilla’s habitats has caused a large problem with how the

With the extinction of many animals and the changing environment due to human activities, conservation methods should be put into action to save the earth and its residents. With so many negative things happening to the environment it is possible that the earth and its resources could run out in the next few generations. One species, the mountain gorillas, contribute greatly to the well being of the earth and needs to be saved. Being the destroyers of the earth, I believe that it our duty to find a way repent for our negligence to our neighbors and environment.

Gorillas are similar to humans in many different ways, such as sadness and laughter and also have hands just like a human. Some gorillas even know sign language when speaking to one another. They show over 20 known sounds, and other gorillas recognize them. It takes a very long time to build their trust as well. “Their DNA is 98.3% identical to a humans.” (Lewis, et.al, 2008) Reproduction for gorillas is also another feature just like humans, it is a slow procedure. It takes about 8 and a half months for a single gorilla to be produced, even though the process is slow the growing of a young gorilla is more rapid than a humans. They raise the infant gorilla for several years before giving birth to another baby. As many as 40% do not survive after birth. Male infants usually splits from the parents due to the lack of breeding chances.

People have the space to understand themselves when stay with animals, and learn many meaningful ideas from them. When people lost their families, they cannot accept it because they rarely face this kind of situations. Before her husband passes away, Goodall believes in god. However, after losing her husband, Goodall angry at the “unjustness” and starts to reject the god. To seek for healing, she decides to go to the forest and stay with chimpanzees in Gombe. However, in the forest, animals deal with death in a totally different way. Dead body can be finding everywhere and death is happening at all times. Thus, animals treat it normally. As Goodall says, “And always there are the young ones to carry on the life of the species”(146). Although old ones will passes away when they are old, but young ones are growing up and

Chimpanzees portray their emotions through a number of facial expressions and mannerisms. Just like humans, they undergo mood swings, jealous rages, and laughter. For instance, Goodall observed during her research that a male gorilla “would threaten [me] with an upward and

There are many wild animals in the world are in danger. The mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are one of the most threatened species in the world that inherited from monkeys (Macaca Fascicularis) and apes (Hominoidea), which was found in Africa and Arabia about 34-24 millions years ago. Mountain gorillas are Animalia, which phylum is Chordata and class of Mammalia. The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla, which live in two regions in Africa. There are three countries where mountain gorillas live. They are Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. According to National geographic, there are about 700 mountain gorillas remaining in the earth and half of them live in a Virunga mountains in central Africa. In average, they live about 35 years; the standing height of a mountain gorilla is between 4-6 feet. They’re weight usually between 300-485 pounds and they are bit larger than other type of gorillas. Mountain gorilla usually live in a group and head of their group is called ‘silverback’ that is an adult male who grow a patch of silver hair on their back and hips. However, when dominant silverback die, the whole group face hard time to regroup themselves. Female gorilla usually becomes sexually mature before male gorilla. At the age of 7-8 female gorillas become sexually active, however they started to breed few years later. On the other hand, male gorilla starts

“Beasts under the Big Top” by Sena Christian and “When Animals Mourn” by Barbara J. King both relate to the idea of animal behavior and the different ways it can be affected. Christian explains the effects on behavior caused by an animals surroundings and treatment by humans. In contrast, King specifically focuses on the impact death has on an animals behavior, whether it be a passing in the community or of a close family member. Although both authors write about changes in animal mannerisms, they each take distinct approaches on discussing the topic.

In the article “A Change of Heart about Animals” Jeremy Rifkin uses scientific evidence to reason with us that “many of our fellow creatures are more like us than we had ever imagined”. Rifkin suggests that animals should be treated better and be provided with better living conditions. He uses Betty and Koko as examples that animals have higher intellectual abilities and emotions than we thought. Many scientists also argued that animals do not have an understanding of death or capable of grief, but Rifkin counteracts that argument by using elephants as evidence to show that they are capable of grief.

Harry Harlow’s thorough research on the connection between maternal comfort and rhesus monkeys provides information and knowledge to the reader as an insight into our social and emotional development. In this article, Harlow uses experimental observation of mental and emotional associations of the affectionate ties between the child and the mother. As Harlow says, this is “an instinct incapable of analysis”.

It took some time for Dian Fossey to build a strong bond with the gorillas. At first, her main focus was tracking them. However, when she got close to them, they would shy away. After watching patiently from a distance for a while, the gorillas began to accept that she was not a danger, allowing her to come closer. In order to gain their trust and ”...get close to the gorillas, she started imitating their behaviour” (Hogenboom, 2015). This method is called habituation.

Over the course of many years, people and animals have shared a critical connection. Such as, how animals have been used for medical use, transportation, and comfort. Over the past couple weeks, I have studied how people are animal allies. People and animals share similar behaviors, bonds, and how they help each other. To start out, People and animals relate to each other by sharing similar behaviors.

Dian helped us connect even more to the foreign primates by focusing on the different habits of mother, baby, and adolescent gorillas. Giving each gorilla a name, Fossey helped us almost humanize the animals through her vivid descriptions of their personality and behavior. She showed us that gorilla mothers protect, care for, and discipline their infants. Gorilla babies develop much the same ways humans do; acquiring skills as they age. Adolescents can be just as curious as they are mischievous. Fossey's work helps replace the image of the gorilla as a ferocious animal into one that is kind, gentle, and more human-like that we had never known.

Earth roads cover 38.7% of the total road network and 56.4% are foot paths while streets are very few and cover only1.8% of the roads. The accessibility of the earth roads to four wheel vehicles is temporal as most of the earth roads are always in deplorable state during the rainy season coupled with frequent landslides that cut most parts of the roads. The poor road conditions and the absence of transport facilities no doubt affect the agricultural landmark of this montane area. This is a major deterrent to any form of development endeavor since the movement of goods and services to and from this area is impaired. This is contrary to the view of Pritchard (1982) who noted that an efficient transport system usually stimulates economic growth and an improvement of the livelihood conditions of rural communities.