Largest living primate Eastern Gorilla, critically endangered

Q.  Largest living primate found in Congo is now officially declared as critically endangered by IUCN. What is its name?
- Published on 06 Sep 16

a. Western Gorilla
b. Bornean Orangutan
c. Sumatran Oranguntan
d. Eastern Gorilla

ANSWER: Eastern Gorilla
 
Largest living primate Eastern Gorilla, critically endangeredThe largest living primate Eastern Gorilla found in the Congo mountains is now officially critically endangered according to a fresh update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
IUCN World Conservation Congress made the announcement regarding the same in Hawaii.
  • Eastern Gorillas have suffered a devastating population decline of more than 70 percent in 2 years with the population estimated to be lower than 5000
  • Four of the six great apes- Eastern Gorilla, Western Gorilla, Bornean Orangutang, Sumatran Orangutang are now listed as Critically Endangered
  • Two remaining-Chimpanzee and Bonobo are under considerable threat of extinction and are listed as Endangered.
  • Latest IUCN Red List also reports the decline of the Plains Zebra due to illegal hunting and growing extinction threat to Hawaiian plants used by invasive species.
  • 38 of the 415 endemic Hawaiian plants assessed for this update as listed as Extinct and four other species have been listed as Extinct in the Wild meaning they only occur in cultivation
  • The IUCN Red List now includes 82,954 species of which 23,928 are threatened with extinction.
  • Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla Beringe) is now made up of 2 subspecies. One of the subspecies Grauer’s Gorilla has lost 77 percent of its population since 1994 declining from 16,800 to just 3,800 in 2015.
  • Mountain Gorilla another subspecies is around 880
  • The Plains Zebra has moved from Least Concern to Near Threatened. Population has been reduced by 24 percent in past 14 years from 660,000 to 500,000.
  • 3 species of antelope found in Africa - Bay Duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), White-bellied Duiker (Cephalophus leucogaster) and Yellow-backed Duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor) - have moved from Least Concern to Near Threatened.
  • However, the good news is that the Giant Panda and the Tibetan Antelope are now listed as Vulnerable and Near Threatened respectively from Endangered status.
  • Other conservation successes include the Greater Stick-nest Rat (Leporillus conditor) and the Bridled Nailtail Wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata).

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