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Eastern Gorilla Is Now 'Critically Endangered' While Panda Improves to 'Vulnerable' Status

A gorilla at Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri, Rwanda.

A gorilla at Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri, Rwanda.

Photographer: Themba Hadebe/AP Photo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CALEB JONES)
Updated on

Honolulu (AP) -- The world's largest living primate has been listed as critically endangered, making four of the six great ape species only one step away from extinction, according to a report released Sunday at the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, cited illegal hunting in downgrading the status of the eastern gorilla on its Red List of Endangered Species. The list contains more than 80,000 species, and almost 24,000 of those are threatened with extinction.