The Eastern lowland gorilla is a subspecies of gorilla that can be found mainly in the rain forests of the Congo in Africa. They are also spotted in the Kahuzi-Biega and Maiko National Parks, and their adjacent forests, the Tayna Gorilla Reserve, the Usala forest, and on the Itombwe Massif.
The other name of this subspecies is ‘Grauer’s gorilla’. It is the largest of the gorilla subspecies with a huge body weighing up to 250 kg. Until the mid 1990s, there were around 17,000 of these gorillas alive. But recent surveys show that the population has come down to around 4000.
One of the main reasons for the decline in the population of the Eastern lowland gorilla is illegal poaching. This means hunting, capturing or killing of animals. Yet other reasons include the trade of their body parts, destruction of habitat due to mining, agricultural expansion, logging etc.
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