Proposal for the Inclusion of Species on the Appendices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

The most usual present treatment, however, recognises the western and eastern populations as separate full species, Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei respectively. The eastern and western populations are separated by approximately 1,000 km (Garner and Ryder, 1996). Western and eastern populations can be distinguished based on external features (Groves, 2002) and clear geographic and morphological distinctions can also be seen (Garner and Ryder, 1996). The western group comprises the isolated Nigeria-Cameroon gorillas now recognised as a subspecies, Cross River Gorilla G. g. diehli, and the Western Lowland Gorilla, G. g. gorilla, though there is much divergence even within this subgroup. The eastern group includes both the Eastern lowland G.beringei graueri and the two mountain populations of G.b.beringei.