A fifth of known life on Earth can be found in Unesco world heritage sites, according to the first survey of the planet’s most important cultural and historical landmarks. From the Great Barrier Reef to the Kazakh steppe, nearly three-quarters of all recorded bird species, two-thirds of all mammals and more than half of all […]
Tag: gorillas

This zoo thought one of their gorillas was male — then it gave birth to a baby
Zookeepers at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium arrived to a pair of unexpected discoveries Thursday morning: a newborn baby gorilla and the news that its mother wasn’t a male gorilla. The gorilla, Sully, has lived at the facility with her mother since 2019 and was thought to be male until “the gorilla care team discovered […]

Most species, including humans, who experience early life adversity suffer as adults. How are gorillas different?
There’s something most species—from baboons to humans to horses—have in common: When they suffer serious adversity early in life, they’re more likely to experience hardship later on in life. When researchers from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and the University of Michigan decided to look at this question in gorillas, they weren’t sure what they […]

New York Legislators Move to Halt ‘Banana Races’ Amid Animal Cruelty Concerns
In an era when the ethics of using animals for entertainment are increasingly scrutinized, New York State Senator James Skoufis stands up for primates. In a recent legislative move that’s catching attention, Skoufis proposed a bill to end what he describes as a cruel and antiquated form of entertainment: monkeys parading as jockeys in the […]

Malaria infection harms wild African apes, study shows
Endangered great apes get malaria, just like humans. New evidence from wild bonobos shows us the infection harms them, too. Malaria is a devastating disease caused by parasites transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitos. For humans, symptoms start out mild—fever, headache and chills—but malaria infection can be fatal within 24 hours. For apes, little […]

A Race Against Time to Save the Most Endangered Gorillas In The World
The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is the most endangered of all gorillas, with only an estimated 300 individuals remaining in the wild, the World Wildlife Fund reports. The Cross River gorilla is found only in a small area spanning the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. According to the WWF, It is here that […]

Saving Uganda’s Wildlife: The Fight Against Poaching and Illegal Trade
The African wilderness is home to some of the world’s most majestic and endangered animals. Still, the sad reality is that many of these animals face a dire threat from poaching and illegal wildlife trade. One area that has been particularly hard hit is Uganda, home to a wide variety of wildlife, including gorillas, elephants, […]

Habitat Destruction, Poachers and Human-Transmitted Disease Could Erase Progress Made With Endangered Mountain Gorilla
The Mountain Gorilla is one of the 10 most endangered animals on Earth, and it may not be here much longer. For decades, mountain gorilla populations have been dwindling as uncontrolled hunting, disease, habitat loss and the ravages of human conflict have taken their toll. The mountain gorilla are now considered endangered. In the 1980s, […]