Zoo Atlant The Gorillas

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.

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

They can be found in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. True to their name, mountain gorillas live up in the Virungas mountains specifically in the volcanic slopes where it is green. They live in forest that are very high in altitude. Mountain gorillas eat many plants such as bamboo, wild celery, leaves, shoots, and fruits. They also eat ants, snails, and grubs.

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.

Gentle, peaceful & shy are the words that describe gorillas. Gorillas in the mountains & eastern lowland areas are totally vegetarian & eat leaves, fruits, & stems like bamboo. On the other hand, gorillas in the Western lowlands eat small invertebrates & insects apart from plants. It’s anticipated that approximately 80% of gorilla population’s extinct, because of the destruction of their habitat, humans hunting them down & diseases as a result of Ebola

For the primate observation project I went to the Santa Barbara zoo to observe and contrast different types of primates. I observed one species of an old world monkey, which was a gorilla and two different species of new world monkeys, which were the Bolivian Grey Titi Monkey and also the Golden Lion Tamerin.

The El Paso Zoo is a well-known for making everyone’s arrival one to remember. Each time I would go to the zoo, I always leave with a smile on my face because of the great service they bring towards El Paso. The reason why I decided to write about the zoo is because I was once a worker there. It is marvelous seeing all of those magnificent animals. They must be at least twenty different types of species we have in El Paso. Which is totally awesome.

On Friday, March 31, a observation study was conducted at the L.A. Zoo. The time of arrival for the observation was at 11:48 am and the end of the observation was at 2:42 pm. The weather condition at the zoo was very sunny with a mild gust of wind every so often, which is a perfect weather condition to conduct a study. The main reason for conducting this observation study was to study and gather information about the many different types of primate that are located at the zoo. To see how different or similar each primate is to one anotherin different aspects.

of vegetation each day. Gorillas exact diet depends on where they live. According to Sea World, about 67 percent of a lowland gorilla's diet is fruit; 17 percent comes from leaves, seeds and stems; and 3 percent comes from termites and caterpillars. The mountain gorilla eats a diet that is about 86 percent leaves, shoots and stems; 7 percent roots; 3 percent flowers; 2 percent fruit; and 2 percent snails, ants and grubs.

The Gorilla King (nature/wildlife documentary) is the story about mountain gorillas that begins hundreds of thousands of years ago when volcanos of Congo erupt. This volcano eruption led these gorillas to find their new place in high mountains to live. In the film, Veronica and Felix are observing Titus, whose is 33 years old male silverback and ruling over 25 gorillas by his share of presence. He looks after ten females, four males, 16 ages, and four youngsters. Actually, Titus is being observed by researchers since he was born. These researchers always have seen that outsider male weren’t welcomed but it only happened once in 1970, when Beetsme enter the group of Titus. Titus blackest period of life was the relationship with Beetsmse because

Many people have expressed their anger for this unfortunate incident. This issue is very controversial for the zoo and the parents. The zoo claims that they did not have the option to tranquilize the gorilla instead, which would have spared the life of Harambe. There was also a large amount of accusations thrown

Dian Fossey was a normal young lady that had the dream of taking part in the research of gorillas in Africa. She attended a conference one evening that was given by Dr. Louis Leaky. Dr. Leaky talked about the enormous problem of keeping the gorillas that roamed the Virunga Mountains of Africa from going extinct. He explained the

In 1994, the Rwandan Genocide forced over a hundred thousand refuges to the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) which would soon be in a 7-year long civil war. In 2011, some institutions decided to study how that had affected the Grayer’s gorilla. A combination of illegal hunting, civil unrest, and habitat loss led to an 80% decrease in population. In 1995, there were about 17,000 and now there are only 3,800. The Grayer’s gorilla, along with the other 3 types of gorilla, is on the critically endangered list. They are the largest gorilla, growing to be over 400 pounds, and they only live in the remote forests of eastern DRC. One main reason they are going extinct is because the mining groups located near their habitats and controlled by armed

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles zoo on a beautiful, sunny Thursday (October 19th). Although I arrived off schedule which left a minimal amount of time to observe primates, I managed my time well. After being told that the larger animals get put away earlier, I figured my first stop would be at an ape enclosure. The ape I chose to see that day was the gorilla. The time that I began my observation was at approximately 3:05. At that time only one ape was quite visible and he was sitting at the front making eye contact with me making it seem as if he is HABITUATED. Next, post gorilla watching, I had the chance to take a gander at the ring railed lemurs at 3:40. These prosimians all had their own personalities which interested me deeply. Lastly, and certainly not least on my journey through the LA zoo, I had the chance of looking at the mandrills which were once classified as baboons. Considering that two baby mandrills were present and only a month old, this was my favorite exhibit to see because of their high energy and randomness of actions.

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.