Due to hunting and civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the eastern lowland gorilla is now classified as “critically endangered” on the Iucn Red List.
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The eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) is the largest ape on the planet and one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. The imposing stature of these primates — a silverback can reach a height of 180 centimetres and weigh one hundred and sixty kilograms (on a mostly vegetarian diet) — will not, however, help them defend themselves against the extinction to which they appear condemned. According to a recent report by the Wildlife Conservation Society, this subspecies of eastern gorilla, which now lives only in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, could become extinct within a few years if nothing is done.
In just twenty years, between 1995 and 2015, the eastern lowland gorilla population collapsed by 77 per cent, falling from 17,000 to 3,800 individuals. Among the causes of this tragic decline are poaching, the destruction of forests to make way for fields and pastures, and the civil war that has been ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo for decades.
On the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Iucn), the species had been considered "endangered"; it is now classified as "critically endangered" — the next, terrible, classification is "extinct in the wild". The conservation of primates is among the topics being discussed at the Iucn's quadrennial congress, currently under way in Honolulu and concluding on 10 September. "Seeing the eastern gorilla — one of our closest cousins — teetering on the brink of extinction is truly distressing," said Inger Andersen, Director General of the Iucn. "We have a responsibility to intensify efforts to protect the species and reverse this trend."
The eastern lowland gorilla is, unfortunately, in good company. Of the six existing species of great apes, four are in fact threatened with extinction: the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei), the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii). The bad news is not limited to primates: of the more than 82,000 animal species assessed by the Iucn, nearly 30 per cent are at risk of disappearing forever, as a result of the impact of human beings.