10 Mountain Gorilla Facts
10 Mountain Gorilla Facts
10 Mountain Gorilla Facts : With an estimated population of 1,064 individuals, mountain gorillas are one of the most fascinating creatures in world living in the highlights of Rwanda, Uganda and DR.Congo. These beautiful creatures are among the rarest and most endangered species on the planet.
Standing a few meters from mountain gorillas is one of the most incredible wildlife experiences and the greatest life privileges. Before you embark on a journey to Africa to see the gorillas, here are the 10 Mountain Gorilla Facts to know
- Classification of Mountain Gorillas
Mountain gorillas belong to the Animal Kingdom in the class of Mammals and Order of primates. Further down, they belong to Hominids or Great Apes Family in the Genus Gorilla.
The Genus Gorilla is classified into the Western Gorilla and Eastern Gorilla. Mountain gorillas are a subspecies of the Eastern Gorillas together with the Low Land Gorillas, mountain gorillas inhabit the high elevated forested areas of Central Africa in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo, while the low land gorillas can be found in Zoos and some forests in Western Africa and Congo.
In Congo, there are both Low land and Mountain Gorillas. Please note that these gorilla names are in respect to their habitats.
Whereas Mountain gorillas can barely survive in captivity, only the lowland gorillas can. Physically, mountain gorillas are larger with dark and longer hair than the Low Land Gorillas.
- Mountain Gorilla Habitat – Where to find mountain gorillas
There only 1,064 mountain gorillas surviving in their natural habitat. The Albertine Rift montane forests of Central Africa are the only place with ideal conditions for the survival of these endangered species.
Mountain gorillas particularly inhabit the forests of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park located at the edges of the Albertine Rift in Uganda and the slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes that are shared by 3 countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo.
In Uganda, mountain gorillas are found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. In Rwanda, mountain gorillas are found in Volcanoes National Park and Virunga National Park in DR.Congo.
- Social Life of Mountain Gorillas
Mountain gorillas are very social animals living in groups called troops or families which comprises of one dominant silverback, females, black backs and the young ones. A silverback is an adult male, significantly bigger than the rest of the family members and grows silvery hair/fur across its back. This silver path becomes lighter and wider as it grows.
The silverback is very strong, he is the leader and protector to the family. A mature silverback can weigh up to 200kgs and the female 110kgs.
On the other hand a black back is the young male gorilla which hasn’t reached the age of developing silvery hair at its back. its fur at the back starts to turn silver from the age of 12 or 13 and hence becomes a silverback. This is when it starts to attract frequent fights with the dominant silverback and hence less chances for it to keep with the family. However, some families have more than one silverback and this happens for as long as the rest remain submissive to the dominant one.
- Formation and Composition of Mountain Gorilla Families
Mountain gorillas live in groups or families which are formed through a natural process of birth and social interaction or fights. These fights are for dominance among the silverbacks where the strongest takes over the family.
Gorilla families can keep enlarging or reducing depending on the strength of the lead silverback. Gorilla families are composed of the head silverback, the females, black backs and the young ones.
Mountain gorillas live freely in their natural habitat, and the composition of their families in terms of numbers can hardly remain stable for a much longer time. This is similar to the members of the group. The dynamics in all gorilla families are easily noticeable, thanks to the daily monitoring by trackers, who are park staff follow the gorillas from morning when they leave their nests until the evening when they make fresh ones. Any change in their family compositions and daily behaviors can therefore be noticed.
- Feeding Habits of Mountain Gorillas
Gorillas are vegetarians that feed on plant leaves, stems, bark of trees, seeds, fruits, bamboo shoots and dead wood. Although plant materials constitute 99% of their diet, they also eat termites, ants and other insects. Occasionally they eat soil, ash and specific stones to supplement their mineral intake.
The infants or baby gorillas are exclusively breast fed until 4 months when they start testing food left over by their mothers. Slowly they learn to feed after their mothers and at 9 months, they are able to do so on their own besides being able to digest what they take in. However note that, the mothers do breast feed their babies up to 3 or even 4 years. Remember they give birth every after 4 to 5 years.
Mountain gorillas do drink water but they do it in patterns and the habits are largely determined by the seasons. They mostly look for water streams during the dry season, and in the wet season most of the plants they feed on contain a lot of sufficient water for their body needs. Regardless of the season however, gorillas don’t drink water on a daily basis.
- Gestation Period of a Mountain Gorilla
Similar to humans, the gestation period of mountain gorillas ranges between 8.5 to 9 months and they produce every after 4 or 5 years. Usually a female gives birth to one baby and rarely to twins. Sadly the chances of twins surviving up to maturity are minimal. Twins are a sole responsibility of the mother except where she dies and the lead silverback takes over. It is the mother’s task to hold babies as it looks for food for itself. Since it has to move holding them on its belly or lap, it becomes complicated. Such circumstances for it to drop or abandon one of the babies which end up dying of starvation when it’s deprived of breast feeding at a tender age.
- Mating among Mountain Gorillas
In gorillas, females become sexually active at 6 years but are ready to conceive at 8 years. The males/silverbacks become sexually active and mature at 12 years, the leader/the silverback is the only one to mate with all the females in the family. However, this is not to say that there is no intimacy or attraction amongst the other males and females with the family. When it occurs, those involved tend to keep a few meters from the family so as to satisfy their sexual urges and they usually walk further ahead or behind the rest of the family.
During mating, the make a certain sound, so in such a scenario they may not survive the wrath of the lead silverback when it finds out about their sexual acts. When the disciplinary act is imposed on them, usually the male runs away from the family to lead a solitary life until it is mature or strong enough to form its own family by grabbing females from other families or winning a fight with a silverback and takes over an already established family. Also, some females can run away from the family to join other families when they are not sexually satisfied by the lead silverback.
- Life Expectancy of a Mountain Gorilla
Generally, the life expectancy of a mountain gorilla is 35 to 40 years. It is mainly the females however, the males hardly reach that age. The males especially the head silverbacks have a lot more to do than other members in terms of guarding, planning and looking for better feeding areas for the family.
Such and the frequent fights for dominance tend to wear them out faster than the females.
- Population of Moutain Gorillas and the Threats to their Lives
In the whole world, mountain gorillas are estimated at 1,064 individuals living in 2 small populations, in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda and the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda, Uganda and DR.Congo. Mountain gorillas have been known to be at risk of extinction and in the past years, they were labelled as “critically endangered” until a steady increase in their population was realized and moved to “endangered” in 2018 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park shelters the highest population of mountain gorillas with over 500 individuals. In the Virunga Conservation Area comprising of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in DR.Congo host the remaining population.
For some reasons there are few surviving mountain gorillas. First of all, their habitat is increasingly becoming small due to human encroachment on these forests. Moreover, encroachment leads to gradual degradation of their habitat. Using the forests for illegal lumbering, poaching and subsistence farming are negatively affecting the forest and its suitability for the survival of the mountain gorillas, let alone threatening their safety with in their habitat.
The most recent unfortunate incident happened in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in June 2020 where a silverback was speared to death by the poachers who were allegedly on a hunt for wild pigs in the forest. In the process, the silverback put great resistance as in defense for its family when it tried to attack them, and they retaliated by spearing it to death.
Overall, the major threats to the mountain gorillas are poaching, habitat destruction, diseases and insecurity. Common diseases for mountain gorillas are flue, intestinal parasites and cough. Some are acquired from man while others develop on their own.
The only predator to the mountain gorillas are the leopards but these are rare given the cold environment in which the gorillas live.
- Mountain Gorillas Movements
Mountain gorillas are wanderers though less mobile and active when compared to fellow primates, chimpanzees. Their daily movements can be about 500 meters. In regard to the elevation, they can go up to 3000 meters above sea level. However, they are non-territorial, they do not mark or fight for territories. Although their foo is in abundance with in their habitat, their movement/travel patterns are more or less determined by the availability of food, among other factors. They move more during the dry season and in the afternoon than the wet season and the mornings respectively.
Mountain gorillas retire after the day’s movements and activities in the evening between 5.30 and 6.pm. They sleep in nests at night which can be made on the ground or up in trees. They don’t repeat nests, they make fresh ones each day and every member (4 years or above) sleeps in an own nest except the young ones that share with their mothers. Upon rising up in the morning, they dismantle the nests as they leave for their usual routine of feeding and socializing.
