Mountian+Gorillaz

Picture This. A mother and baby gorilla are walking in the forest and all of a sudden a group of poachers come and shoot the gorillas to their death. The lead poacher takes a knife, chops off the gorillas' heads, drives off and leaves the bodies. This is a terrible thing. Do you know that the Mountain Gorilla is on the critically endangered list and that there are only about 700 gorillas left? They are being poached, losing their habitat due to deforestation, and dying from war and human diseases. I am worried that another species of gorilla will be lost to human causes and I am showing you on this page how you can help these great animals.

**__Research Questions__** What do these gorillas eat? What is their physical apperance? What is their life span? What is their habitat like and how is it being destroyed? Why are they endangered? Are there any organizations helping the Mountain Gorilla?



__What do these gorillas eat? __
The Mountain Gorilla is primarily an herbivore. They eat a very wide variety of plants in the mountain forests. They eat things that are easy to collect so they don't waste needed energy. Things they eat: roots, leaves, stems, bamboo, small amounts of bark, wood, flowers, fruit, fungi, galls, invertebrates, small animals, herbs, shrubs, vines, and gorilla dung. If they are deperate for food they sometimes go as far as to raid farmers crops.

The average male gorilla will eat up to 45 pounds of food per day. The average female will eat up to 30 pounds of food per day.

__What is their physical appearance? __
Mountain Gorillas are the largest primate, with average lengths of 4ft. 11in. for females and 6ft. 1in. for males. Females weigh 70 to 114 kg and males averaging 160 kg. They have big bodies, long muscular arms, short legs, massive heads, and males have large, sharp canine teeth. Mountain gorilla coats are silky and long, ranging in color from blue-black to brownish-grey. Mature males develop a large patch of silver or grey hair on their backs, giving them the name silverbacks. Males also have apocrine glands in their armpits that emit a strong odor when the animal is under stress.  Mountain gorillas differ from other gorillas in having longer hair, larger jaws and teeth, smaller nose, and shorter arms.

**__What is their life span? __**
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">Mountain Gorillas can live up to 35 years in the wild but can live up to 54 years on zoos. Even though they live longer in captivity they would rather have their freedom and live in the wild. = = = = = = = = = = = =

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__<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">What is their habitat and how is it being destroyed? __
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">Mountain gorillas inhabit moist tropical forests like the Montane Cloud Forest of the Virunga Range. These forests are at the borders of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Occasionally they go into the afro-alpine meadows (4,000 m) where temperatures are subfreezing at night and there is little suitable food to forage on.They also inhabit forests or along forest edges, where clearings provide an abundance of low, edible vegetation.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">Their habitat is being destroyed little by little. Logging roads snake into forests, opening frontiers to settlers and loggers who harvest the trees.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">__**Why are they endangered?**__
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">The Mountain Gorillas are being endanged for many reasons. I mentioned some of them before.They are being poached which is illegal to do but the poaches still find away to do it and poaching is the number 1 cause of their death. There was an article about Moutain Gorilla where they were killed by Congolese Rebels. Emmanuel de Merode said "The fact that two were killed suggests they were deliberately targeted." This means they were poached and killed for war efforts. He added, "I suspect there was an element of vandalism." The second most killer is human diseases. Respiratory diseases, including influenza A and parainfluenza viruses, killed 24 of the 700 which is a great amount. They are on the <span style="COLOR: #ff0600; FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">Red List of the endangered list.

**__<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">Are there any organizations helping the Mountain Gorilla? __**
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">The World Wildlife Fund has been World Wild Fund have done 30 years of work to save the Mountain Gorilla and their habitat in the Cloud-Shrouded Mountains. WildlifeDirect, a conservation group based in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, has helped the wild gorillas with the war effort and the rebel attacks.The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project led by Dr. Oliver Ryder at the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species at the San Diego Zoo confirms every few years the population of Mountain Gorillas living in Africa by taking a census. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace">International Gorilla Conservation Programme is a group in Europe by helping the parks take care of the gorillas and monitering the activities in the areas of the wild Mountain Gorillas. African Wildlife Foundation has protecting Mountain Gorillas, funding important research and working to ensure the survival of the mountain gorilla since the late 1970s. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace"> Fauna & Flora International    helps to protect and monitor the gorillas and also helps train park staff.

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