The Western lowland gorilla is the most widespread of all the gorilla subspecies. They are predominantly found in the dense and remote forests of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea. These gorillas are different from the others by their slightly smaller size and auburn chests. They have shorter hair and longer arms too. Like chimpanzees, gorillas too are smart, and they easily learn human sign language.
Although they are found in large numbers, the Western lowland gorillas are still an endangered species. There are no data on the number of gorillas surviving, but it roughly comes to a lakh. As one can guess, some of the main reasons for this are illegal poaching, killing and habitat destruction. The gorillas are killed for the bush meat, or captured for pet trade.
Another reason is the spread of diseases like ebola, which has caused the death of a large number of gorillas and chimpanzees.
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