more recent phenomenon of the commercialization of bushmeat hunting has caused a large impact on the population. The hunting seems to be more intense within the lowlands and may have contributed to the concentration of gorillas within the highlands and their small population sizes. Despite laws preventing hunting, it still persists due to local consumption and trade to other countries. The laws are rarely effectively enforced, and due to state of the Cross River gorillas, any hunting has a large impact on the population and their survival. All hunting of the population is unsustainable. Decline The population of Cross River gorillas declined by 59% between the years 1995 and 2010, a greater decline over that period than any other subspecies of great ape. Apes such as the Cross River gorilla serve as indicators of problems in their environment and also help other species survive. The decline of this species started thirty years ago and has since continued to decline at an alarming rate. The danger of hunters has led these creatures to fear humans and human contact, so sightings of the Cross River gorilla are rare. Cross River gorillas try to avoid nesting in grasslands and farms, which causes the remaining forest to become fragmented. However, the Cross River gorilla's habitat has become degraded and fragmented. Spatial scale coarse models fail to explain why the gorillas display a highly fragmented distribution within what appears to be a large, continuous area of suitable habitat. When fragmentation occurs, this causes a decrease or even elimination of migration between subpopulations, and therefore causes more inbreeding within a single population. This led to the loss of genetic diversity. This has negative effects on the long-term viability of population fragments, and by extension, the population as whole. Researchers use genetic methods to better understand the Cross River gorilla population. More specifically, certain loci within the genome were of major concern and they helped give the best insight into the subdivisions and dispersal of genetic variation across populations. Surveys suggest that the total population is about 300 individuals and is fragmented across about ten localities with limited reproductive contact. On top of this fragmentation, the Cross River gorilla is also threatened by hunting for bushmeat and for use of their bones for pseudoscientific medical purposes. For example, the exploitation of some primate species in Africa is prohibited because certain local communities embellished them with ritual meanings,