gorilla conservation
DESCRIPTION
I gave this presentation twice at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for school credit.TRANSCRIPT
Gorilla Natural History & Conservation Efforts
Antoinette RiveraBaldwin Wallace College
October 14th, 2009
Politics
Economy
Habitats Species
Africa
• A government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (Webster)
Republic
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)- Formerly Zaire• Republic of the Congo• Equatorial Guinea• Uganda• Cameroon (With Multiparty Presidential Regime)• Gabon (With Multiparty Presidential Regime)• Nigeria (Federal Republic)• Rwanda (Presidential, Multiparty System)
Republic
African Union (AU)
• Pan-African Parliament• Peace and Security Council• African Development Bank• Economic Community of West African States• Southern African Development Community
Trade$ Imports:
$ DRC: Consumer goods, foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels.
$ Uganda: Petroleum products, machinery, cotton piece goods, metals, transportation equipment, food.
$ Rwanda: Textiles, foodstuff, machines, and equipment, capital goods, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction.
$ Nigeria: Machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and animals.
$ Exports:$ DRC: Copper, coffee, diamonds, cobalt, crude oil.$ Uganda: Coffee, cotton, tea. $ Rwanda: Coffee, tea, tin ore, tungsten ore, pyrethrum. $ Nigeria: Oil, cocoa, rubber.
Mining for electronics
• Coltan coats capacitators inmany electronics.
Land Use$ Agriculture
$ DRC: Coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products
$ Uganda: Coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry.
$ Rwanda: Coffee, tea, pyrethrum, bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock
$ Nigeria: Cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, rubber, corn, rice, sorghum, millet. cassava (tapioca),
yams; cattle, sheep, goat, pigs; fishing and forest resources extensively exploited.
$ Natural Resources$ Uganda: Sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement. $ Rwanda: Mining of tin ore, and tungsten ore, cement, agricultural processing,
small-scale beverage production, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes.
$ Nigeria: Crude oil, coal, tin, columbite (COLTAN), palm oil, peanuts, cotton,
rubber, wood, hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food
products, footwear, chemicals, ceramics, fertilizer, steel.
Volcanoes Dry Lakes Desert
Rainforest & Mountain
Grassland Swamps
Habitats
Habitats
African Endangered Species196
Mammals
119 Fish
116 Birds
51 Amphibian42 Plant41 Insect38 Snail35 Reptile13 Crustacean7 Coral2 Worm
2009 numbers from IUCN
Eastern GorillasGorilla beringei
Western GorillasGorilla gorilla
Cross RiverGorilla g. diehli
Western Lowland
Gorilla g. gorilla
Eastern Lowland (Grauer’s)
Gorilla b. graueri
MountainGorilla b. beringei
Eastern: Mountain
Eastern: MountainScientific Name: Gorilla beringei beringeiHabitat: bamboo forest, dense ground cover and little canopy cover Food: varies with altitude, Bwindi gorillas incorporate fruitHow to tell them apart from other have significantly longer hair, longer faces and broader chests
Eastern: MountainWhere they live: Rwanda and DRC (Virunga Mountains), Uganda (Bwindi Impenetrable National Park), How many are left:380
Major Threat: militias, high human population density, war, habitat destruction, charcoal, poaching
Eastern: Lowland (Grauer's)
Eastern: LowlandScientific Name: Gorilla beringei graueriHabitat: lowland tropical rainforest habitat through transitional habitatsFood: herbaceous vegetation, as well as on fruitHow to tell them apart from other species :longer faces and broader chests, less hair than mountain gorillas
Eastern: LowlandWhere they live: DRCHow many are left: between 5,500 and 28,000 (2007)
Major threat: habitat destruction, illegal mining, high demand for bush meat, political unrest, charcoal.
Western: Lowland
Western: LowlandScientific Name: Gorilla gorilla gorillaHabitat: lowland tropical forest, dense ground-level growth, and swamp forestsFood: pith, leaves and shootsHow to tell them apart from other species: have brown, not black, hair on their heads, head has very sloped crest
Western: LowlandWhere they live: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, DRCHow many are left: Not Known
Major Threat: no protection, Ebola, Commercial hunting, logging, climate change
Western: Cross River
Western: Cross RiverScientific Name: Gorilla gorilla diehliHabitat: hilly areas, and from lowland to submontane forestsFood: pith, leaves and shoots and fruitsHow to tell them apart from other species: have brown, not black, hair on their heads, head not as sloped as the lowland gorillas
Western: Cross RiverWhere they live: Nigeria, CameroonHow many are left: Approx 300
Major Threat: Hunting, Loss of Habitat
Conservation Hindrances
Political Unrest• Genocide• War
Wildlife Tourism• Disease• Disruption
Black Market and Bush Meat Trade• Food• Fur• Hands/feet• Pets/Private Zoos
Habitat loss• Charcoal• Cell Phones
Current Efforts
• Gorilla Foundation• WWF• Year of the Gorilla Efforts• WAZA- World Association of Zoos and Aquariums• UNEP- The United Nations Environment Programme• CMS- Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species• UNESCO-GRASP-United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization- Great Ape Survival Partnership• Eco-cell
WHAT WE CAN DO!!!
• Recycle Cell phones and any electronics• Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009• Contribute to Year of the Gorilla Conservation Projects
IGCP• Donate to efforts mentioned above• Write to government officials through WWF about Gorilla protection
Any Questions?
References• http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/12/gorilla-massacre/massacre-video-intera
ctive
• http://igcp.org/ • http://gorilla.cd/ • http://www.hmnet.com/africa/1africa.html• http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/virunga/timeline-interactive • http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/gorilla/taxon• http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/2_2climates.html• http://www.yog2009.org/• http://www.gorillassp.org• http://nothoney.com/2008/01/28/political-unrest-in-africa-spurs-poachers-wildlife-u
nder-threat/• http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2008/July/20080711150646mlenuhret0.9
135401.html• http://diglib1.amnh.org/articles/Africa/Africa_environment.html• http://primatology.net/2006/07/16/cell-phones-mining-new-threats-to-gorilla-popul
ations/• http://www.iucnredlist.org• http://www.actforcongo.com/coltan• Audoban. Sept 1990- Farewell to Africa p.51