Kahuzi-Biega National Park was established in 1937 by the Belgium colonial rulers and then expanded in 1975. It now covers 6000 square km or 2300 square miles. Roughly 13000 Batwa were cleared out of the area to make way for the park (along with other people who had settled more recently).
Continue reading “On the founding of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, locals were pushed out -they now have the right to return, what will happen”Panda bear behaving like a meat eater/scavenger?
This bear was filmed, gnawing on a bone from a takin, a species of wild cattle.
For a species which is thought to survive exclusively on bamboo, this would be strange behaviour.
However, pandas do not survive exclusively on bamboo as roughly 1% of their diet comes from other foods. In fact, their digestive system is typical of a carnivore, so the remaining 1% of their diet can include eggs, small animals and carrion – like this bone. Pandas are also known to forage in farmland for pumpkin, kidney beans, wheat and domestic pig food.
The thing is, pandas eat up to 38kg a day, which means that during the week, they eat around 3kg of food that is not bamboo. This is significant, and while much of this may well be other vegetation, if the time spent on other food sources was around 1% of the time, it would suggest at least 1 hour a week spent eating other things.
One must remember that their intelligence is on a par with Chimpanzee and gorilla -like other bears, so they are capable of working things out.
Primate family tree main and great and lesser apes
Primate family tree
The primates are in some ways one of the most successful families. It is true that many are now endangered, however, unfortunately, that is as a result of the run-away success of the most successful member of the primate family us! Having left the rainforests behind, we have been reducing their coverage dramatically over the last few centuries.Â
The sad thing, is that while we have pushed many of our closest cousins towards extinction, the loss of forests may well cost us dearly in the future as well. As a species, we need to pull together to meet this challenge. in order to jump to the various families, click on the family of interest above – though all can also be reached by scrolling down.
Great Apes
Great ape Family split is thought to have split from its nearest relative – the gibbon family, around 17 million years ago.
4 million years later the Orangutan family split from the gorilla line and the human/chimp line.
3 million years after this (so around 10 million years ago) the gorilla family split from the Homo (humans) and Pan
Finally the human line (homo) split from the Pan line 5-6 million years ago.
It should be noted, that chimpanzees and Bonobos split from a common ancestor just 1.8 million years ago. This occurred as the two populations ceased to be able to have contact with each other – the Congo rive formed between 1.5 and 2 million years ago.
For more information on each species, click on their photo and this will take you to their page
It should be noted that while I have grouped eastern western and skywalker gibbon together, there is some contention that the skywalker gibbon should be in its own genus, having diverged around half a million years aog
Gibbons
Genus Nomascus
This family is the Genus: Nomascus or crested gibbon.
The last Genus of gibbons is Hylobates: dwarf gibbons.
Mountain Gorilla
Mountain Gorilla
The mountain gorilla is a sub-species of the Eastern Lowland gorilla. It is isolated on two sets of mountains, they are only a few hundred miles apart, but given the space between their populations is one of the most dense human habitation in Africa, reconnecting these habitats will not be possible in the near future.
Mountain gorillas are very similar to eastern lowland gorillas, though as they have 8 inch hair all over their body, they look far larger.
Currently, there are 1063 mountain gorillas in the wild, split between their two reserves. This does not sound high, but has doubled since the 1980s when each reserve only had around 250 individuals. They are nowhere close to fully recovering, but it is questionable whether their two homes can support more gorillas than currently live there.
GOOD NEWS: Tigers and mountain gorillas rebounding in their native habitats
- Tim
- August 10, 2020
As the number of mountain gorillas passes above 1000 for the first time in a very long time we have to worry about their future survival
- Tim
- May 24, 2020
Three endangered mountain gorillas killed by lightning strike
- Tim
- February 17, 2020
Species Watch: Cross river gorilla and western lowland gorilla
- Tim
- May 15, 2022
The Grauers Gorilla population is twice as big as thought! Out of the woods? Not so fast
- Tim
- June 26, 2021
Species watch
- Tim
- May 11, 2022
Bwindi impenetrable forest threatened by road plans
- Tim
- April 26, 2022
What will the Ukraine war have on wildlife?
- Tim
- March 12, 2022
Gains in the Virunga national park of the DRC are encouraging but threats continue
- Tim
- October 20, 2021
Will climate change kill the forests of Africa?
- Tim
- July 20, 2021
Spike in illegal deforestation in the Virunga’s national park
- Tim
- June 23, 2021
The virungas national park continues to be dangerous for rangers
- Tim
- February 5, 2021
Review: extinction: the facts
- Tim
- September 30, 2020
In a human crisis the Natural World often does incredibly well
- Tim
- April 10, 2020
Animals moving away from extinction
- Tim
- February 7, 2019
China’s plan for a huge panda reserve
- Tim
- June 23, 2018
Virunga National Park to close for two years
- Tim
- June 14, 2018
A tiny reserve in Nigeria has been shown to be full of wildlife
- Tim
- November 5, 2021
Eastern Gorilla
The Eastern gorilla (lowland)
The Eastern Gorilla, or Eastern lowland gorilla (as the Eastern gorilla subspecies is the mountain gorilla) is a species which makes its home only in lowland tropical rainforests in the eastern DRC. In the last 50 years, its range has almost halved, from 8,100 square miles—about the size of the state of Massachusetts— to about 4,600 square miles today. This subspecies may now occupy only 13% of its historical range.
There are only about 5000 Eastern lowland gorillas left in the wild. While much of their numbers decrease over the last 50 years, has been as a result of a loss of habitat, their most immediate threat is currently, is that of the bushmeat trade. The area around their range is home to people with very little money. Tourism to this area, would likely greatly improve this issue and reduce the demand for Gorilla bush meat. Apart from the threat for the continued survival of this giant (alongside the mountain gorilla, this species is the largest great ape still living.
Any news articles will appear below, and links to allow travel to this region will be added below.
Chimpanzees and gorillas search each other out – “friends with benefits”
- Tim
- January 14, 2023
Species Watch: Cross river gorilla and western lowland gorilla
- Tim
- May 15, 2022
The Grauers Gorilla population is twice as big as thought! Out of the woods? Not so fast
- Tim
- June 26, 2021
Species watch
- Tim
- May 11, 2022
Spike in illegal deforestation in the Virunga’s national park
- Tim
- June 23, 2021
On the founding of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, locals were pushed out -they now have the right to return, what will happen
- Tim
- November 18, 2024
China’s plan for a huge panda reserve
- Tim
- June 23, 2018
Virunga National Park to close for two years
- Tim
- June 14, 2018
Cross-river gorilla
Cross-river Gorilla
As can be expected, its range is very small, though it is hard to know if it ever had a far larger range. Its range is the small dot of light brown found on the map above the pink area.
As we make connections, these will be added below – to help you arrange your travel to see this rare animal
Species Watch: Cross river gorilla and western lowland gorilla
- Tim
- May 15, 2022
Large group of Cross River gorilla photographed in the wild for the first time
- Tim
- July 14, 2020
Are the days of the Nigerian gorilla numbered?
- Tim
- February 25, 2022
A tiny reserve in Nigeria has been shown to be full of wildlife
- Tim
- November 5, 2021
Corona-virus threat to primate species
- Tim
- April 6, 2020
Species watch
- Tim
- May 11, 2022
Western Gorillas
Western lowland gorilla
The western gorilla is thought to number around 316,000 in the wild. However, this species is actually made up of two subspecies.
Most are simply known as the western lowland gorilla.
The other subspecies is the cross river gorilla, this only has around 200-300 members remaining in the wild. Click here to view the cross river gorilla page. You can see that their population only inhabits a small area.
Any links we get that will allow you to watch lowland gorillas will appear below the news section.
Species Watch: Cross river gorilla and western lowland gorilla
- Tim
- May 15, 2022
Chimpanzees and gorillas search each other out – “friends with benefits”
- Tim
- January 14, 2023
Lowland gorillas have been sighted in the Equatorial Guinea for the first time in a decade
- Tim
- March 6, 2020
Species watch
- Tim
- May 11, 2022
Tapunali Orangutan
Tapanuli Orangutan
Orangutans are often animals high on the list that people wish to see one day. Orangutans are the only great ape that lives outside Africa. While fossils show that at one time, it was found on the mainland of Asia, the Orangutan is now restricted to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. There are 3 species of Orangutan and their conservation status varies dramatically. The Orangutan was first scientifically described in 1779 by Dutch anatomist Petrus Camper.Â
The Tapanuli orangutan, was discovered in 2017, It lives in the Tapanuli forest in Sumatra, but is thought to be more closely related to the Borneo Orangutan. It is thought that just 800 remain, in an area covering around 1000 square miles. This is around 9.75% less than the area they would have historically roamed. It is scary when we are only discovering species of this importance when they are this close to extinction. One would think that they Indonesian government would be working as hard as possible to save what habitat remains, but there is a dam being built, which will split this population into 3, and it is quite plausible that they will not survive.
You will find all the articles we have written on the Tapanuli Orangutans below (there will be a video between)
As always, we hope to add many destinations for Orangutans in the near future, do get in touch if you wish to list somewhere in their range. These links will be added below the news sections as we make links.
Video on the Tapanuli Orangutan
- Tim
- September 28, 2024
Norway pension fund has disinvested from a British firm Jardines of destructive plans for the Tapanuli orangutan habitat
- Tim
- June 11, 2024
The worlds top sovereign fund is cutting ties with a dam which will likely lead to the extinction of the Tapanuli Orangutan
- Tim
- September 9, 2023
Will the 8th great ape- the Tapanuli orangutan – survive the first 2 decades after being described?
- Tim
- May 2, 2023
The Tapanuli Orangutan is still threatened with extinction, despite only recently being discovered
- Tim
- November 6, 2021
It would appear the 8th great ape the Tapanuli Orangutan is closer to extinction than we thought
- Tim
- March 24, 2021
I wrote a while ago about it a dam caused for the tapanuli orangutan, apparently it has been delayed by up to 3 years- lets make sure its delay is permanent
- Tim
- August 21, 2020
Orangutans are roaming into villages in Sumatra – bad news
- Tim
- April 6, 2023
The builders of the dam that will eradicate 80 to 90% of the range of the tapunali orangutan are refusing to do an assessment on the damage to this species – a new update, things keep changing, check back for mroe
- Tim
- August 29, 2020
Give carbon credits for a dam which requires a large area of rainforest to be cut down? That’s absurd.
- Tim
- March 8, 2020
Dam that threatens the survival all of the rarest great ape is in the wrong place will make more carbon dioxide emissions during building and reduce emissions less than claimed
- Tim
- March 4, 2020
News in brief – articles from last few weeks
- Tim
- January 24, 2020
Chimpanzees and gorillas search each other out – “friends with benefits”
Recent studies have shown that it his highly beneficial to both species when these cross species friendships are made. Indeed, it is not merely a question of chance encounters, instead each species will actively search out the other.
Benefits include protection from predators, increased social skills and finding fruiting trees.
Continue reading “Chimpanzees and gorillas search each other out – “friends with benefits””
Chimpanzee and Gorilla seen spending extended periods together in the wild
Chimpanzees and Gorillas share much of the forests of central and Western Africa. It is therefore not surprising that they might meet from time to time.
As babies, all sorts of creatures spend time together. In Gombe stream the Jane Goodall study documented Chimpanzees and baboons playing together as young.
Continue reading “Chimpanzee and Gorilla seen spending extended periods together in the wild”