Why are silverback gorillas endangered?
Silverback, or mountain, gorillas are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources “Red List” as endangered because their populations have reached a critical level. As of 2003, only a few hundred members of the species had survived poaching, disease, nearby wars and habitat loss in their native African jungles.SignificanceResearchers believe that only about 700 mountain gorillas exist in the wild today, according to a 2003 census of Virunga National Park, Volcanoes National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.HistoryAlbert National Park was established in 1926 in the African Congo. It was here that famous scientists like Dian Fossey conducted research with mountain gorillas beginning in the late 1950s and 1960s. Efforts toward saving this threatened animal began in the 1970s.IdentificationGorillas fall into two species: western and eastern. Although western gorillas have a much higher population (estimated at 100,000 at the beginning of the
