Facts About Mountain Gorillas : Mountain gorillas are considered one of the major tourist attractions that attract many tourists to travel from all over different parts of the world with an aim of tracking these endangered species within their natural habitats. More so, gorillas are short-listed as the endangered species on the ICUN red list with some subspecies like the Cross River gorillas whereby the Eastern lowland gorillas are being listed as critically endangered.
Mountain gorillas are considered the largest apes / primates according to all wildlife species in the whole world and they are normally spotted within the tropical rain forests, dense forests and montane forests, which are located within the west, east and the central region of Africa. However, during in the 19th century, it was recorded that the number of mountain gorillas greatly reduced due to the fact there were many factors that lead to the threat of the species and these include; wide spread of poaching activities, loss of good habitats due to the large scale of deforestation and encroachment on wetlands and forests among others. Later, in 1980s, the wildlife conservationists and primatologists like Dian Fossey introduced conservation and research projects about gorillas in the East and Central Africa. Therefore, tourists who travel to Africa with an aim of tracking these mountain gorilla species can always visit places like; Mgahinga Gorilla national park and Bwindi Impenetrable national park in Uganda, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Virunga national park in Congo.
Facts about Mountain Gorillas.
There are so many interesting and unique facts that tourists should know about the endangered mountain gorillas and some of these include;
How big and strong is a gorilla?
An adult gorilla specie, which is also commonly referred to as Silverback, is noticed to develop white hair on their backs at the age of 14years and it has an average height which is between 1.4 to 1.8 meters and stands about 4 to 7 inches and to 5 to 11 inches tall. More so, these male species have an arm span that stretches from 2.3 to 2.6 meters whereas female gorillas are noticed to have little bit smaller arm spans. Silverback mountain gorillas also measure up to 1.52 meters tall and they are capable of growing up to 2.25 meters tall.
Adult female species are considered shorter than the male species hence having an average height of about 1.25 to 1.5 meters tall.
How close related are gorillas to Humans.
The unique and most interesting thing about the endangered mountain gorilla species is that they share about 98% of their DNA with human beings and there are considered our closest relatives after the chimpanzees and baboons. More so, they are noticed to be living a social life just humans for example they stay together in groups of about 5 to 30 members. These mountain gorillas can also acquire diseases similar to those that can affect human beings such as; flu, cough, Arthritis which affects their joints, feet, hands and fingers, Ebola. More so, they also happen to lose their teeth an old age just like humans, which affects their normal feeding routine. Lastly, mountain gorillas also mourn the loss of their loved members and they are noticed always gathering around the corpse of a fellow dead gorilla.
How often do gorillas give birth?
Male gorillas are sexually active more compared to the female species and the female species happen to have a gestation period of eight and a half months. More so, these female species usually give birth to one baby every after 4 to 6 years and they end up having around only 3 to 4 babies for the whole of their lifetime.
What do mountain gorillas feed on?
Mountain gorillas are referred to as herbivorous animals and it is noticed that these endangered species are capable of eating half of their body weight for example; they feed on about 50 pounds of leafy foods per day. and their diet consists of fruits, plant stems, leaves, bamboo shoots and many others like; ants, snails, insects which makes them to be considered as partially omnivorous mammals.
For more information about the endangered mountain gorilla species, feel free to contact our trusted tour operators and Book with our tours and travel companies such as; Achieve Global safaris and Explore tours Rwanda who offer the best tour packages while on your Gorilla trekking safaris in Africa and they take around countries like; Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
