在刚果发现10万多只大猩猩

（CNN）在周二报告，在非洲的一个沼泽里，生存了约12.5玩大猩猩。，是全世界濒危灵长类动物增加一倍。

“这个数量是相当惊人的！”Hugo Rainey，美国的野生动物保育协会调查者之一在星期二告诉 CNN 。在1980年代，研究人员估计在地球上有10万只猩猩，自那以后，研究人员估计猩猩的数量减少了一半。

野生动植物保护协会的调查队在2006年和2007年进行的研究表明，在刚果共和国北部，储存着大量沼泽森林。

在猩猩猎人的带领下，走了3天野泥路。这里离最近的道路有80公里的距离。

“当我们到达那里时，发现了大量的大猩猩”Rainey在苏格兰爱丁堡的灵长类学会说。

但研究人员没有发现现成的大猩猩，但他们发现了很多大猩猩住的巢，研究人员猜测，可能是大猩猩白天睡觉晚上活动。

“这是已知的最大的黑猩猩种群”Rainey说。视频

Western lowland gorillas are listed as critically endangered, the highest threat category for a species. Their populations are declining rapidly because of hunting and diseases like Ebola hemorrhagic fever, whose symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding. Take a closer look at the Western lowland gorilla »

While the discovery in northern Congo indicates that the gorilla population remains stable in some areas, it is likely that gorillas will remain critically endangered because the threats facing the species are so great, Rainey said. iReport.com: Share photos and video of gorillas in zoos or the wild

"We know very little about Ebola and how it spreads," he said. "We don't even know the animal that spreads it around."

The goal now, Rainey said, is to work with the Congolese government and donors to protect the areas in which the gorillas are known to be living.

Western lowland gorillas, which are found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria as well as the Republic of Congo, are the most numerous and wide-ranging of the four gorilla subspecies, each of which is threatened by extinction, the WCS says. See where the gorillas live »

Illegal hunting and habitat loss have also threatened the Cross River gorillas, found in the highlands of Cameroon and Nigeria. Only about 250 to 300 are estimated to remain in the world, the WCS says.

War, habitat loss, poaching and disease are the major threats to the mountain gorillas, made famous by researcher Dian Fossey and the film "Gorillas in the Mist." The mountain gorilla population is starting to recover after decades of conservation work. From a population of around 230 in the 1970s, the mountain gorillas now number around 700, the WCS says.

Poaching and war have also threatened populations of Grauer's gorillas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Zaire. The WCS estimates their population to be around 16,000.

News of the discovery of the Western lowland gorillas in northern Congo comes the same week as a report that almost 50 percent of the world's primates are in danger of extinction. Watch what gorilla expert thinks of find »

The report, also delivered to the Edinburgh conference, cites habitat loss and hunting as the greatest threats. The situation is especially dire in Asia, where the report says more than 70 percent of monkeys, apes, and other primates are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.

Conservation International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature issued the report.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/08/05/congo.gorillas/index.html