Gorilla beringei beringei - The eastern gorilla is divided into two subspecies: the lowland gorilla and the mountain gorilla. The mountain gorilla is native to the volcanic slopes of the Eastern Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. It is the largest living primate. A typical adult male will grow to 1.7 meters in height and weigh 140 to 205 kilos. Gorilla populations are in sharp decline; there are less than 5,000 individuals of the lowland gorilla and less than a 1,000 of the mountain gorilla remaining in the wild.
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The Brussels Conference of 1890 awarded the territories of Burundi and Rwanda to Germany in exchange for Germany agreeing to relinquishing its claim on Uganda. The first German expedition to settle Rwanda arrived in 1893 and was followed by colonialists and missionaries arriving in 1897. Germany lost Rwanda to Belgian at the end of World War I. Belgium retained control over Rwanda until the emerging Pan-African movements of the 1950’s brought independence to Rwanda in 1961.
