Eastern Gorilla Numbers Down 70% In Last Ten Years

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GOMA, Congo (AP) -- "Years of civil strife in eastern Congo have decimated the habitat of the eastern lowland gorilla, cutting the apes' population by more than 70 percent in the past decade, experts said Wednesday. With the number of apes estimated to have dropped to 5,000 -- down from about 17,000 in 1994 -- a U.S.-funded program is trying to stem the habitat loss by creating community nature reserves.

"The rate of decline of this subspecies is unprecedented," Clare Richardson, who heads the Atlanta-based Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, told The Associated Press.

The number of gorillas began declining seriously after millions of people fled their homes during civil wars in Congo and neighboring Rwanda, taking refuge in the forests that are home to the apes, known scientifically as Gorilla beringei graueri. The crisis worsened as soldiers, tribal fighters and other armed factions began fighting in remote areas of Congo, setting up military camps and hunting for food in the forests. The spread of small-scale mining for gold, precious stones and columbine tantalite, a mineral used to make cell phones and other high-tech gadgets, compounded the problem.

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The affected area -- more than 7.4 million acres -- is home to about 97 percent of Congo's eastern lowland gorilla population. The stricken landscape also supports an array of other species, including the chimpanzee, forest elephant, Nile crocodile, Congo peacock and leopard."

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[blindpig]

1. This is genocide

Having worked with anthropoid apes for several years in the past I am absolutely of the opinion that they are sentient, perhaps more so than the average inhabitant of my county. Using them as research subjects is an abomination and keeping them in zoos, as much as I am a pro-zoo person, is unjust imprisonment. St Jane help them & us.