Cross River Gorillas
- Thread starter Jabiru96
- Start date
There is one of the Ape Rescue centres in Africa that has(or had) a female believed to be a Cross River Gorilla. Perhaps someone can remember which one it is- Limbe?
As Cross River Gorillas are virtually indistinguishable, at least superficially, from Western Lowlands, any that have left Africa and entered zoos in the past have presumably gone unrecognised.
As Cross River Gorillas are virtually indistinguishable, at least superficially, from Western Lowlands, any that have left Africa and entered zoos in the past have presumably gone unrecognised.
Considering their similar appearance, is it possible that there are any in captivity that are still wrongly labeled as Western Lowlands, or is it possible there are any hybrids? I don't know if any DNA testing has been done or anything, so maybe it is not 100% that all Western Lowlands in captivity are Western Lowlands, or at least pure ones?
I suppose anything was possible in the past and that animals from the Cross River Gorilla's range might have entered captivity and even have been bred with other Western Gorillas.
However I don't know whether enough scientific research has been done to reliably distinguish the DNA of these two species, or indeed to identify just how seperate they are from each other. So I imagine the queries you raise will probably remain unanswered.
However I don't know whether enough scientific research has been done to reliably distinguish the DNA of these two species, or indeed to identify just how seperate they are from each other. So I imagine the queries you raise will probably remain unanswered.
they are 'only' subspecies of the same species and very similar. Most people wouldn't be able to separate them but they differ in dentition and skull. How this would manifest itself in hybrids is anyone's guess. There has been genetic work on the population structure of the Cross River gorilla where 3 main clusters were identified and I guess this would enable separation from the more common subspecies. I think the captive Cross River gorilla in Limbe has been confirmed.