First Professional Footage of the Most Endangered Subspecies of Gorilla
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on February 6th, 2010
Rare Gorillas Spied Feasting on Figs
See what could be the first professional footage of elusive Cross River gorillas, the most endangered subspecies of gorilla, filmed recently in Cameroon.
They are remote, and live in the densest of jungle. Researchers and a film crew spent weeks searching for them, and finally captured them on video.
They are Cross River gorillas, the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla. The Wildlife Conservation Society says this is the first professional footage ever recorded of these primates in the wild.
Listed as critically endangered by IUCNs Red List, the Cross River gorilla numbers perhaps fewer than 300 across its entire range in Cameroon and Nigeria.
This video was taken in Cameroons Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, home to an estimated 16 gorillas.
Researchers had staked out what they believed were some favorite fig trees of the gorillas, and recorded them some 30-40 feet up in the trees, feasting away.
Through the years, WCS researchers have developed an effective non-invasive monitoring system to keep track of the gorillas without disturbing them or getting them used to human presence. The gorillas are very wary of humans.
WCS maintains that while many gorillas are threatened by poachers, these gorillas in Kagwene have been protected by the local belief that the apes are people, and therefore should not be hunted or eaten.
But elsewhere, the Cross River gorillas are threatened by hunting, as well as habitat destruction.
Its hoped this new and rare video will help raise awareness about this little-known species, and encourage further protection efforts, like the creation of the Kagwene Sanctuary, which happened just last year.National Geographic Daily News
December 22, 2009
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
It is hard to discern from the video how they look any different physically from the other three species, even if to a very slight degree.
Wikipedia states that they are designated as being a different species based on skull and tooth dimensions differing from the Western Lowland Gorilla.
I don’t recall ever seeing photos/video of gorillas that high in trees before.
Whatever happened to stories about the bondo ape? After all the hype they turned out to be a known species of chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii?
I thought they were supposed to have a sagittal crest, kill lions, and be up to 6.5 feet tall.
Pardon my ignorance, but what is different about them in relation to other gorillas?
Korollocke: what’s different about these gorillas? A layman probably couldn’t tell you. Put one of these in a group of any other gorilla subspecies and it might go unnoticed.
This isn’t exactly a cryptid. But its differences from other gorilla populations have been known for some time; and the countries in which it lives aren’t exactly untouched by humans. But those countries have more wild in them than most, even the residents, suspect. And that it took this long to get footage of a known species – an animal bigger than a human, lounging way up in trees where it ought to be easy to see them – should give anyone pause when it comes to discussing animals like this that aren’t documented yet.
I agree with CryptoRaptor: It’s rare to find a Gorilla THAT high up in a tree. As far as I know.
That may be one of the main things differentiating this Gorilla from other kinds of Gorilla, Korollocke.
Good footage.