to someone you love!
to someone you love!
Year of the Gorilla 2009
Click HERE to meet a family of habituated western lowland gorillas living in Dzanga-Sangha National Park in Central African Republic.
Meet the gorillas of Dzanga-Sangha
2009 is the Year of the Gorilla
2009 has been declared the Year of the Gorilla by United Nations Environement Program (UNEP), Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Why are we celebrating gorillas?
Gorillas are our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos, they are a highly intelligent, charismatic and severely threatened.
Gorillas need a lot of space to survive and have a big influence on their environment. Like chimpanzees and elephants they play a fundamental role in the seed dispersal of several plant species whose fruit they consume.
In forests where poaching has drastically reduced gorilla populations, several large fruit trees, which depend on gorillas for their dispersal and germination, have become very rare.
Gorilla conservation programs not only work to protect the gorillas themselves but also help to protect thousands of other species of animals and plants that are found in gorilla habitat.
Critically endangered
There are four sub-species of gorilla that live in 10 African countries, three of them are critically endangered according to IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. The fourth species, the eastern lowland gorilla, is still listed as endangered because researchers cannot access a major portion of their habitat.
What is WWF doing?
Gorillas have been an important flagship species for WWF since it started in 1961. WWF works on all four gorilla sub-species.
Projects focus on:
Why are we celebrating gorillas?
Gorillas are our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos, they are a highly intelligent, charismatic and severely threatened.
Gorillas need a lot of space to survive and have a big influence on their environment. Like chimpanzees and elephants they play a fundamental role in the seed dispersal of several plant species whose fruit they consume.
In forests where poaching has drastically reduced gorilla populations, several large fruit trees, which depend on gorillas for their dispersal and germination, have become very rare.
Gorilla conservation programs not only work to protect the gorillas themselves but also help to protect thousands of other species of animals and plants that are found in gorilla habitat.
Critically endangered
There are four sub-species of gorilla that live in 10 African countries, three of them are critically endangered according to IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. The fourth species, the eastern lowland gorilla, is still listed as endangered because researchers cannot access a major portion of their habitat.
What is WWF doing?
Gorillas have been an important flagship species for WWF since it started in 1961. WWF works on all four gorilla sub-species.
Projects focus on:
- improving the effectiveness of protected areas,
- stopping the illegal trade in gorilla products,
- increasing local and international communities' support for gorilla conservation
- More about our work with Gorillas