The NY Times science section has video, taken from a camera trap operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society, showing a group of Cross River gorillas in Cameroon. It is just two minutes, but it includes a couple of interesting events, including a silverback charge at 1:12 and a gorilla with an amputated hand, presumably the result of a poacher’s snare, immediately after. It is always fascinating to peer in on apes in the wild.
The Cross River gorillas are an extremely endangered sub-group of Gorilla that occupies a fragmented and shrinking environment. De Vere et al. recently published a paper in the American Journal of Primatology looking at nesting habits of these gorillas, with implications both for their conservation and potentially for insights into nesting behavior in fossil hominids. Bergl et al. have a 2008 paper from the same journal looking at genetic evidence of their habitat fragmentation and population size history.
One of the great challenges in paleoanthropology is the relative deficit of appropriate comparative taxa available – there are simply not that many apes or species of apes on the planet these days. The destruction of those that are around does not make it any easier.
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1. De Vere, R. A., Y. Warren, et al. (2011). “Nest site ecology of the cross river gorilla at the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon, with special reference to anthropogenic influence.” American Journal of Primatology 73(3): 253-261. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20886
2. Bergl, R. A., B. J. Bradley, et al. (2008). “Effects of habitat fragmentation, population size and demographic history on genetic diversity: the cross river gorilla in a comparative context.” American Journal of Primatology 70(9): 848-859.
