Why Do Mountain Gorillas

Today there are only about 790 mountain gorillas left in the world. They are the second most severely endangered subspecies of gorilla and can only survive in the wild. Unlike other gorillas that can live in captivity. My goal is to raise awareness of the decline of these magnificent animals. Although dedicated conservation initiatives have taken place since their scientific discovery in 1902, the mountain gorillas are still at great risk from malicious human acts and other biological reasons. Factors such as habitat destruction, poaching, and a slow birth rate have made it increasingly difficult for the mountain gorilla to maintain its population. Many do not fully understand the criticality of losing an entire species. Their survival is
Consequently, they die off leaving the ecosystem off balance and the natural beauty they provided gone.
High up in the misty mountains of the Virunga National park in the Dominican Republic of Congo, mountain gorillas devote their time to resting, eating, and socializing. The mountain gorilla, Gorilla beringei beringei, gets it’s scientific name from the German explorer Robert Von Beringe who first discovered them on October 17th 1902. Gorillas are apart of the four great apes. While some may associate apes with monkeys and other primates, gorillas stand out through many aspects. Some obvious features that set them apart are their enormous size and human like appearance. Since movies such as King Kong and Congo have been produced, gorillas have been portrayed as vicious beasts, however that is far from the truth. By nature, mountain gorillas are shy, peaceful animals that spend
This is essential for the gorillas that live in the Virunga National park because the money opens up job opportunities for park rangers that protect and ensure their quality of life. Not only does this greatly assist the gorillas in maintaining their population, it helps the local economy by creating jobs. Income made from gorillas are often shared with local areas and are directed straight into the communities by building schools and aiding other beneficial projects. Gorilla tourism is a major source of revenue for the Dominican Republic of Congo. If the mountain gorilla were to go extinct the humans in the surrounding regions would ultimately face negative effects such as increased poverty. Mountain gorillas also have an impact on the environment around them since they are large scale grazers and eat mostly vegetation, the natural balance in the food chain would be disrupted. As a result, the forest would overgrow and cause other species to have difficulty surviving. The ecosystem is very delicately balanced and if one seemingly insignificant part were to stop existing then everything would be