Western lowland gorilla - Threats

Paying the price of timber demand

Habitat loss and degradation
In Central Africa, timber has become a major export earner and vast areas of rainforest in the western lowland gorilla's habitat in the Congo Basin have been already lost or are leased out to European and Asian logging concerns.
Find out more about habitat loss and degradation

Hunting and trade
Bushmeat is regular fare for many human populations in Africa. Gorillas are also sought after as food, pets, and their body parts are used in medicine and as magical charms.

It has been estimated that in the early 1990s, approximately 5% of gorillas were killed for their meat for local consumption. Market hunting may put that figure higher. In fact, according to some estimates, 400-600 gorillas are killed each year in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo, while a group of 25 hunters in Cameroon claim to kill approximately 800 gorillas each year.

In the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and Dzanga-Sangha Reserve of the Central African Republic, evidence from park patrol raids on poachers' camps show that gorillas are now being actively hunted.

Disease - The Ebola crisis
Central Africa, the home of western lowland gorillas, is currently affected by Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The virus has decimated up to 90% of the largest populations of the subspecies in Northern Congo and Gabon.