Why are gorillas endangered?
It may not be long before we only get to see gorillas as mere objects of entertainment in caged-covered zoos or circuses. This is because their population is depleting as the years go by. Gorillas are now included in the list of endangered animals.
While gorillas were marked to be wild and dangerous animals from some movies we have seen, they are in fact gentle and playful animals. The only thing that makes them upset is when they feel a posing threat towards their families or territories. Gorillas, like many other species, are very protective of their young.
However, not many people know this, and hence they believe that gorillas are wild and dangerous. They too have become good targets for hunters and poachers. Although gorillas’ meat is illegal, there are still many unreported incidents where gorillas are being poached and killed on the spot for their meat.
Over the years, when the world advanced, many of the forests where gorillas are known to survive were converted to industrial areas, agricultural farms and roads. Since the countries where most gorillas live are the countries where the highest human population resides, gorillas have been deprived of their habitats. Their diminishing places to live disrupt their normal way of living, including the opportunity for growth and reproduction.
Although gorillas are relatively protected, their population still decreases, as they have been greatly affected by the civil wars that erupted in Africa, most recently in the 1990’s. Residents of Rwanda were known to escape from their villages to the areas close to the borders of gorilla reserves. People have captured and used gorillas’ meat in their effort to survive.
Gorillas’ constant contact with humans also made them susceptible to human sicknesses, such as intestinal problems, measles and other viral infections. A continuous large number of gorilla populations were slashed down when the Ebola virus started to erupt and kill them, since the 1990’s.
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