Rare Footage of the Cross River Gorilla

Who is the Cross River Gorilla?

The Cross River Gorilla is a subspecies of the Western Gorilla. When standing, they are up to 5 feet tall and can weigh up to 440lbs.

They live in family settings, with up to 40 individuals. Usually a male member dominates the family structure. Females generally have long pregnancies, up to 8.5 months, and take care of their young for many years. This causes them to have babies every 4-6 years, which contributes to slow population growth.

Their distribution is shown above, they reside mostly in Western African.

 They live in the forested hills and mountains of the Cameroon-Nigeria border region at the headwaters of the Cross River, which is where the name Cross River Gorilla comes from.

Being mainly vegetarians, their diet consists of stems, bamboo shoots, fruit and occasionally, termites and ants.

You Have to Power to Help

“If we don’t get serious about saving these spectacular species, it’s quite likely that many won’t be around in the years to come.”

Tom Dillon

WWF Senior Vice President, Field Programs

This subspecies of the western gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli, is labelled as CRITICALLY ENDANGERED by the IUCN."CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR) - A taxon is Critically Endangered when it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future."- The IUCN CategoriesWHY?The Cross River Gorilla is critically endangered primarily due to deforestation, or the mass removal of trees for agriculture, timber, land development, etc. The second main threat is illegal poaching.The loss of every individual affects the entire population, as the genetic diversity of the species is so low there are high rates of inbreeding. Low genetic diversity makes species more susceptible to diseases.

There are an estimated 200-300 of these species left in the wild. There are more students in a lecture hall than Cross River Gorillas in existence.

Sign This Petition to Stop Congress from Cutting Conservation FundsAbove is a petition from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) addressed to congress to ask them to stop cutting conservation funds. It takes only a moment and affects thousands of species on this planet, including the cross river gorilla.Another option to save this creature is to Adopt a Gorilla! through the WWF. This is a great gift to a loved one, yourself, and to the Cross River Gorilla, too!

Never Forget:Extinct is Forever.Do something today.