Ten Excellent Facts About Gorillas
Ten Interesting Facts About Gorillas: Though all the surviving gorillas live on Africa, they are considered as endangered primates with hairy bodies, hands, and legs just like humans. This page contains a number of facts on gorillas as discussed below.
Types of gorillas.
Gorilla species is one of the ten top facts on them. Western and eastern gorillas are the two species of gorillas there exist. Still, the Eastern gorillas are split into several subspecies, including mountain gorillas and Eastern lowland gorillas.
Eastern gorillas such Mountain gorillas occupy the East Africa region with Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park in Uganda, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Their habitat is high altitude.
Living in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eastern low land gorillas make DRC the ideal location in East Africa where one may engage in gorilla trekking involving both the Eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi Beiga National Park and the mountain gorillas in Virunga national park.
Conversely, western gorillas of western species like to live at lower altitudes.
Human DNA is shared with gorillas.
Largest species of primates coming under great apes, gorillas have 98% of their DNA in common with humans. Though they have their unique sound and various movements they use to interact among themselves, this suggests that Gorillas behave like humans; they are shown laughing, mating, nursing, and many more just failing to speak like humans. Usually observed are gorillas hooting, pounding their breast, and producing other loud noise.
Every gorilla eats the same diet and is mostly vegetarian.
Though their weight differs, gorillas eat about the same amount of food every day. Eating various plant species, bamboo shoots, leaves, and occasionally tiny creatures they hunt in the jungle is mostly what they love. This makes them marvels as they wander the whole forest and even ascend hillsides and hills-particularly the eastern gorillas in search of food. This suggests that Gorillas snooze at night and feed during a whole day.
Gorillas sleep in nests.
Gorillas spend a whole day feeding and then settle comfortably for rest on the branches of a tree at night. Made from different tree branches, the foliage and the nest are utilized once signaling that every evening gorillas build a fresh nest for nighttime stay. Though most often they all sleep high in the tree branches, some gorillas create their nests on the ground, particularly the silverback gorillas.
Strong primordial humans with intelligence are gorillas.
Big and strong primordial animals are gorillas. A male mountain gorilla, for example, weighs 180 kg and is roughly 170 cm in length; a female average gorilla weights roughly 135 kg. Since a silverback is the head of the family and so in charge of safeguarding the whole family from any damage, a gorilla-especially the silverback-can fight anything including people in defense of his family members. Though formerly ferocious, gorillas can fight up to death; they are the calmest and peaceful primates if they are not disturbed.
Silverbacks for male adult gorillas are
A silverback gorilla is a male adult gorilla. This got the name from the presence of silver-colored visible rear of every adult male gorilla. Once a male gorilla matures and develops the silver or grey hair in the rear, he gets a name: silverback; the young ones are known as blackbucks.
Groups of families headed by a dominant silverback make comprise gorillas.
Though occasionally there are gorilla groups headed by two silverbacks, in this case the silverbacks are seen fighting every now and again until they end up splitting and each silverback remains with his own family. Gorillas live in a family or group under constant leadership of one dominant silverback. To form a larger family, the silverbacks also fight other silverbacks and grab away the females from rival families. When there are more than one mature silverback in a group, there is always conflict since each silverback wants to mate all the females in the group and this results in a stronger silverback defeating the weaker one and so chasing him away from the group to become a loner silverback until he finally gathers females and makes up his own family.
Female gorillas reach maturity at ten years of age.
A female gorilla is said to be mature and fertile around the age of 10 years; hence, start having sex and producing; since gorillas share our DNA, the female gorillas also carry the pregnancy for a duration of 9 months in an interval of 4-5 years.
Male gorillas are said to be mature at fifteen.
A female gorilla is regarded as mature at the age of 10; a male gorilla matures at 15. A male gorilla at this age is mature enough to begin procreation of the females.
Primate species like gorillas are under peril.
With over 100,000 species still exciting in the wild, gorillas are considered as endangered primates. With at least 1063 species of mountain gorillas left in the wild, the eastern gorillas-especially the mountain gorillas-are said to be more threatened primates. Human factors are the main cause of the population drop among threatened mountain gorillas. Mountain gorillas’ number was drastically lowered and their extent of being critically endangered was attained by human intrusion on their habitats when people cleared the ground for hunting and agriculture. But as their population is now seen rising and this has been accomplished in several ways, including sensitizing the local communities that live nearby the parks to know the benefit of gorillas, especially in the tourism sector, the land encroachers were eventually driven forcefully from their habitats.
Ten Top Facts on Gorillas
Ten Interesting Facts About Gorillas
In conclusion, the situation of gorillas changed from severely endangered and now it’s endangered with a hope of increase in the population in the near future as a result of conservation activities implemented by the responsible wildlife groups.
Gorilla Trekking in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to two gorilla species found nowhere else together: mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park and eastern lowland gorillas (Grauer’s gorillas, Gorilla beringei graueri) in Kahuzi-Biega National Park. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Virunga National Park – Africa’s oldest national park, established in 1925 – covers 7,900 km² of remarkable ecological diversity, from the volcanic peaks of the Virunga Massif to the glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains and the tropical lowland forests of the Congo Basin. The park is also home to hippos, elephants, okapis, and the entire cast of Congo rainforest wildlife.
Eastern Lowland Gorillas – A Unique Encounter
The eastern lowland gorilla (Grauer’s gorilla) is the world’s largest subspecies of gorilla, with silverbacks weighing up to 220kg. Found only in the DRC, Grauer’s gorillas are considerably rarer than mountain gorillas – their population has declined by more than 70% since the 1990s due to conflict, habitat loss, and poaching. Kahuzi-Biega National Park in South Kivu offers the only reliable trekking experience with habituated Grauer’s gorilla families.
A gorilla permit in the DRC costs USD 400 per person – significantly cheaper than Rwanda (USD 1,500) or Uganda (USD 800). The experience is raw, off-the-beaten-track, and unforgettable for travellers seeking something genuinely uncommon.
Practical Information for DRC Gorilla Trekking
Getting to Virunga and Kahuzi-Biega
The most common entry point to eastern DRC is via Kigali, Rwanda. Goma – the gateway to Virunga National Park – is just 80km from Kigali. Direct flights from Nairobi and Kampala also serve Goma. Bukavu (gateway to Kahuzi-Biega) is accessible from Goma by road (3-4 hours) or by light aircraft.
Is it safe to trek gorillas in the DRC?
Security in eastern DRC is complex and fluctuates. Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega have experienced periods of closure due to armed group activity. Always check current security conditions with your tour operator and your government’s travel advisory before planning a DRC gorilla trek. Reputable operators with established local security networks are essential.
Recommended Tours: 8 Days Congo Gorillas & Nyiragongo Safari | 5 Days Lowland Gorilla Safari Congo
