by MARIANNE de NAZARETH
Every day there seems to be yet another species of flora or fauna at risk or thrown into the endangered list by uncaring human intervention. Now it’s the turn of the Gorilla which according to reports from UNEP and INTERPOL, may disappear from large parts of the Greater Congo Basin by the mid 2020s unless urgent action is taken to safeguard habitats and counter poaching.
In earlier reports posted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in 2002, the figure given was, only 10 per cent of the original ranges would remain by 2030.
However like our Indian Tiger, these estimates now appear too optimistic given the intensification of illegal logging, mining, charcoal production and increased demand for bushmeat, of which an increasing proportion is ape meat.
Outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus are adding to the statistics of great apes including gorillas and researchers have estimated that up to 90 per cent of animals infected will die.
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