Study highlights elusive Cameroonian gorillas, and the threats encircling them
Gunshots, grassland and a tiny population of critically endangered gorillas coexisting with nearby human populations in southwestern Cameroon: a new study analyzes a complex set of factors to help understand how to continue conserving the gorillas of Ebo Forest for future generations.
The last time the Ebo gorillas were counted in 2010, there were estimated to be just 25 of them. Some researchers think they could even represent a third subspecies of western gorilla, of which two others — the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) — are found elsewhere in Cameroon.
The Ebo gorilla’s forest home is under threat from hunting, the bushmeat trade, and habitat loss.
A key finding of this study is that these gorillas stick to a relatively small 2,200-hectare (5,400-acre) area within the 200,000-hectare (490,000-acre) Ebo Forest.
The study also found that within that 2,200-hectare patch, which contains a rich diversity of mature and secondary forest and swamp, the gorillas mostly use small grassland areas. That was initially surprising to lead researcher Daniel Mfossa. Read More...
