1.
Gorilla meat is a dietary staple for nearly 12 million people who live near the rainforests of central and West Africa. Some Africans prefer bush meat, such as gorilla, because it provides an economical source of daily protein. Poor families without the means to purchase food at the market travel a short distance to the rainforest to get bush meat. Their only expense is the cost of ammunition and the fee to rent a gun. Some of these same families raise chickens and goats, but do not eat them. Instead, they sell the animals for the cash they need for buying supplies. Africa’s population is increasing rapidly, along with its demand for bush meat. If nothing changes, primatologists fear that gorillas may become extinct in the next thirty years.