Gwaggon biri

Gwaggon biri
Conservation status
LC (mul)  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Class	Mammalia (mul)
Order	Primates (mul)
Dangi	Cercopithecidae (mul)
Genus	Papio (mul)
jinsi	Papio anubis Lesson, 1827
Geographic distribution

Gorilla manyan birrai ne masu girman gaske—wadanda galibi ke cin tsirrai—kuma suna rayuwa a cikin dazuzzukan yankin zafi na tsakiyar Afirka. Ana raba nau'in *Gorilla* zuwa iri biyu: gorilla ta gabas da gorilla ta yamma, tare da ƙarin rukunai na ƙasa (subspecies) guda huɗu ko biyar. Tsarin halittar DNA na gorilla yana da matuƙar kamanceceniya da na ɗan adam—tsakanin kashi 96 zuwa 99 dangane da abin da aka kwatanta—kuma su ne dabba ta uku mafi kusancin dangantaka da ɗan adam bayan bonobo da chimpanzee.

Gorilla su ne mafi girman dabbobi masu kama da mutum (primates) da ke raye a yau; tsayinsu na iya kaiwa tsakanin mita 1.25 zuwa 1.8, nauyinsu ya kai tsakanin kilogiram 68 zuwa 227, kuma faɗin hannuwansu na iya kaiwa har mita 2.6, gwargwadon nau'in dabbar da kuma ko namiji ne ko mace. Sakanin rayuwarsu yana kasancewa ne cikin gungu, inda ake kiran shugabansu da suna "silverback" (wato mai bayan azurfa ko launin toka). Ana iya bambance gorilla na gabas da na yamma ta hanyar launin gashinsu mai duhu da kuma wasu ƙananan bambance-bambance a siffar jikinsu. A dabi'ance, gorilla suna rayuwa na tsawon shekaru 35 zuwa 40 a cikin daji. Muhallin gorilla na asali ya haɗa da dazuzzukan yankuna masu zafi (tropical) ko masu yanayi mai zafi da ɗan sanyi (subtropical) a yankin Afirka ta Kudu da Sahara. Duk da cewa yankin da suke rayuwa a ciki yana ɗaukar karamin kaso ne kawai na Afirka ta Kudu da Sahara, suna rayuwa a wurare masu tsayi daban-daban. Gorilla na tsaunuka yana rayuwa ne a dazuzzukan tsaunuka masu hazo na yankin Albertine Rift da ke tsaunukan aman wuta na Virunga, a tsayin da ya kama daga mita 2,200 zuwa 4,300. Gorilla na yankunan ƙasa (lowland gorillas) suna rayuwa ne a cikin dazuzzuka masu yawan cunkoson bishiyoyi da kuma fadama ko wuraren da ke da ƙarancin tsayi kusa da matakin teku; inda gorilla na yammacin yankin ƙasa ke rayuwa a ƙasashen Tsakiyar Afirka ta Yamma, su kuma gorilla na gabashin yankin ƙasa ke rayuwa a Jamhuriyar Dimokuradiyyar Kongo kusa da iyakar ƙasar da Rwanda.

Ana kiyasin cewa akwai kimanin gorila na yamma guda 316,000 da kuma gorila na gabas guda 5,000 a cikin daji. Kungiyar IUCN ta sanya duka nau'ukan biyu cikin rukunin dabbobin da ke fuskantar barazanar bacewa gaba daya (Critically Endangered); haka kuma an sanya dukkan karanan nau'ukan a wannan rukuni, ban da gorilan tsaunuka wadanda aka sanya su a rukunin dabbobin da ke fuskantar barazanar bacewa (Endangered). Akwai barazana da dama ga rayuwarsu, kamar farautar haram, lalata muhallinsu, da cututtuka, wadanda ke sanya rayuwar wadannan dabbobi cikin hadari. Sai dai, kokarin kare su ya samu nasara a wasu yankuna da suke rayuwa a cikinsu.

Tarihi

Kalmar "gorilla" ta samo asali ne daga tarihin Hanno Mai Binciken Teku (kimanin shekarar 500 BC), wani mai binciken ƙasa ɗan ƙasar Carthage wanda ya yi tafiyar bincike zuwa gabar tekun Yammacin Afirka, zuwa yankin da daga baya ya zama ƙasar Sierra Leone. Membobin tawagar binciken sun ci karo da "mutane masu halin daji, waɗanda yawancinsu mata ne, masu jiki mai gashi, kuma waɗanda masu fassararmu suka kira *Gorillae*".[4][5] Ba a san ko abin da masu binciken suka ci karo da shi shi ne abin da a yau muke kira *gorilla* ba, ko wani nau'in birai (na daban), ko kuma mutane.[6] An ce an ajiye fatun matan *gorillae* ɗin, waɗanda Hanno ya dao da su, a birnin Carthage har zuwa lokacin da Rome ta lalata birnin bayan shekaru 350, a ƙarshen Yaƙin Punic a shekarar 146 BC. A shekarar 1625, Andrew Battel ya yi magana game da kasancewar wannan dabba, inda ya kira ta da suna *Pongo*:

Shekaru 150 bayan an wallafa labarin Battel, wani marubuci mai suna Radermacher ya rubuta cewa "mutane da yawa suna kallon babban nau'in halittar nan—wanda Buffon da sauran marubuta suka kwatanta a matsayin mai girman mutum—a matsayin tatsuniya ko abin da ba ya wanzuwa (Chimera)."[8] Likita kuma mishaneri ɗan ƙasar Amurka Thomas Staughton Savage, tare da masanin halittu Jeffries Wyman, su ne suka fara bayyana nau'in gorilla na yammacin Afirka a shekarar 1847, bisa samfuran da aka samo daga ƙasar Laberiya.[9] Sun sanya wa halittar sunan *Troglodytes gorilla*, suna amfani da sunan da ake amfani da shi a wancan lokacin don rukunin halittun chimpanzee. An samo sunan nau'in halittar ne daga kalmar tsohuwar Girkanci *Γόριλλαι* (gorillai)—wato "sunan wata kabila ta mata masu gashi a jiki"[10]—kamar yadda Hanno ya bayyana.

Manazarta

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