Stretching from the Atlantic Coast to the East African countries of Burundi and Rwanda (regional map), the Congo Basin covers much of central Africa and has traditionally been a rain forest refuge for gorillas and other apes.

But "with the rate of poaching and habitat loss, gorillas in the region may disappear from most of their present range in less than 10 to 15 years from now," according to the report, co-authored by the international law enforcement agency Interpol.

(Pictures: inside a western lowland gorilla troop in the Congo Basin.)

Eight years ago a similar study had predicted gorillas in the Congo Basin would lose 90 percent of their present habitat by 2030. Now it seems even