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By Mohamed Egeh Killeh, Wildlife ecologist
The apes form the family Pongidae. They have no tail but some members
are nevertheless superb climbers. Their most characteristics method of
climbing involves swinging beneath the branches by means of their arms,
which are very powerful and longer than their legs.
The best climbers in this group are the gibbons, of which there are
seven species. Gibbons are found only in the forests of south-east Asia
and are the only primates which seem to be completely monogamous. Even
man does not fall completely into this category. A pair of gibbons will
share their territory only with their own immature young. Would be
intruders are deterred by loud, whooping calls. Their diet is mainly
vegetarian, but includes some animal matter. There are four species of
great apes. Orangutans live in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo. They
live in small groups probably families- and spend most of their time in
the trees. The chimpanzees of Africa, which are of about the same size,
spend quite a lot of their time on the ground. They live in troops, and
although they keep to their own familiar area of forest, do not defend
it against their neighbors. There are two species, but the pygmy
chimpanzee is not common. The gorillas of Central Africa have the same
adaptations for climbing as most other primates- binocular vision,
grasping hands and feet and so on, but they have become rather large to
be completely successful as climbers, a full-grown male may weigh over
400 pounds. So far as is known, wild Gorillas are purely vegetarian.
Local pastoral communities at Wegar Mountain East of Sheikh Town,
Somaliland, say that they have seen the Gorilla on the mountain. They
complain that it has caused substantial damage on the wild life, Monkeys
and other animals.
An official of the Somaliland ministry of Tourism who toured Wegar
Mountain to assess and find out the matter on the community reported the
community assertions.
According to the natural history of Gorilla it’s vegetarian naturally
and not a carnivore. The community therefore has seen some other animal
probably.
It must not be forgotten that man is an animal, and if we arrange the
mammals in a logical order it is here that he makes his appearance. His
big-toe is no longer opposable or thumb-like, because he is rather a
heavy primate which has become adapted to walk on the ground on his hind
legs, leaving the forelimbs free for other tasks. However, he still has
climber’s hands and climber’s senses. He is the sole surviving member of
the family hominidae. In terms of numbers of species this cannot be
judged a very successful family, but in terms of number of individuals
it is very successful- dangerously so.
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