Mountain Gorillas Essay

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Mountain Gorillas: On the Verge of the Extinction Mountain Gorillas: On the Verge of the Extinction Mountain gorillas are one of the most feared animals in the world, thanks to the movie King Kong. But, in fact, they are very vulnerable and defenseless creatures. According to an estimate of scientists, today, only 700 Mountain gorillas remain on Earth. They live in two national parks in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Surrounded by people, they are on the verge of the extinction because of extensive human expansion. There are two major reasons why the Mountain gorillas have become endangered animals: habitat loss and poaching. One of the causes to the Mountain gorilla population is poaching. Beginning early in the twentieth century, collectors and hunters from Europe and the United States began to capture or kill the Mountain gorillas for food, medicine, and trophies. Now, they continue to die from shots of the poachers. First of all, the Mountain gorillas are hunted for bush meat that is traded for commercial purposes. In addition to being killed for meat, they are captured for trophies because some “collectors” are ready to pay a lot of money for souvenirs made out of gorillas’ heads, hands, and feet. Poachers also steal Mountain gorilla infants and sell them as pets. Sometimes, infants have been captured for illegal sale to zoos. Because female Mountain gorillas are very protective of their babies, poachers often have to kill the mother or even an entire group of animals in order to take one baby But the main reason why they are endangered is habitat loss. The countries where the Mountain gorillas live have the highest human population densities in the world. Because there is a lack of farmland in these areas, every acre that is not protected has been farmed. People remove the forests in order to create new farmland for

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