What Mountain Gorillas Eat
What Mountain Gorillas Eat: Given their proximity to humans and endangered status, one might wonder what exactly mountain gorillas eat to maintain their strength. Another reason why people wonder what food mountain gorillas consume is because they do not survive in zoo captivity. In other words, the majority of a mountain gorilla’s diet consists of plant material, including leaves, stems, buds, piths, and bark. Gorillas’ diets fluctuate according to what is available in their habitat because there aren’t many fruits in their surroundings. Because mountain gorillas inhabit high altitude regions with few fruit trees, fruits make up a minor portion of their diet overall.
In their natural habitat, mountain gorillas consume leaves, stems, buds, and seeds from over 140 different edible plant species, accounting for about 85% of their diet. Invertebrates, roots, and flowers make up the remainder of the diet. Water is not a common dietary supplement for mountain gorillas. This is because fresh leaves, which are already adequately hydrated, make up a sizable amount of their diet. Gorillas don’t lose much heat by sweating because they dwell in cold climates at high altitudes.
The Virunga Mountains, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and the lowland sections of Kahuzi Beiga National Park are home to herbivorous mountain gorillas. As the largest ape on the planet, they eat a lot of plants, which makes up the majority of their diet, in order to survive. The Mountain Gorillas are known to devour about 142 plant types, they eat leaves, shoots and stems off plants and this is about 86% of their diet. 7% of their food is composed of edible roots, 3 percent flowers and 2 percent fruits. Since the mountain Gorillas dwell at a great altitude, there is little much fruit they can ingest compared to the lowland gorillas whose diet is primarily constituted of fruit. The mountain Gorillas are also known to occasionally eat ants, snails, and grubs also taking up 2% of their diet.
The mountain gorillas are the largest and by far the strongest primates on earth. To get at the part of the plant they are interested in eating, they use their tremendous strength to break up the vegetation. Although they are highly selective and do not consume all of the vegetation in the area they feed on, gorillas play a significant role in their ecological niche. They are continually moving from one location to another, allowing the vegetation to regrow. As a result, their eating behavior enables prompt replenishment.
As discerning eaters, mountain gorillas only consume specific plant parts. For example, they might only eat a certain plant’s root, another plant’s stem, another plant’s leaves and fruit, etc.
How much do gorillas in the mountains eat?
An adult mountain gorilla’s daily food intake is approximately 20 kilograms. This is a result of their massive bodies, which require more food to provide adequate energy. Since the mountain gorillas are afraid of water, they do not drink it on their own; however, the extremely succulent vegetation around them provides them with the water they require to survive. Since they are herbivores, mountain gorillas obtain little energy from the leaves, stems, and buds they consume. Because of this, they need to consume a lot more food in order to produce the energy needed to survive. Given the superior size of the silverback gorilla – almost twice the size of the adult female, it eats relatively more food than the female counterparts in order to get the needed energy.
An estimated 27 kg of food are consumed by a silverback gorilla in a single day. The average adult female mountain gorilla consumes 20 kg of food every day. This difference in the portion sizes is due to the differences in the body sizes and can vary from one gorilla to the next. Newly born gorilla babies are nursed by their mother for 2.5 to 3 years. At roughly the age of 6 months, newborn gorillas begin to slowly chewing plant portions on their own. By the age of 8, kids can fully absorb all solid foods.
Gorillas spend much of their day either seeking for food or eating. They leave their previous night’s sleeping nests early in the morning and move around the forest to find a good area where they will spend some time feeding and resting. The silverback gorilla is responsible for directing the group/family to a decent area with adequate food such that they can all eat. Mountain gorillas eat two times each day; in the morning and in the evening. Between the two meals, the adult gorillas will take rest while the infants will play with each other.
Primates never eat too much in one place before moving on to the next. They gather food in a very cautious way that doesn’t damage the plants they eat, including leaves, shoots, stems, buds, and roots. A remarkable illustration of this is the fact that a gorilla would seek for the roots of a different species that is similar to its own rather than consuming the roots of the plant whose leaves or buds it has just consumed. Since each mountain gorilla family has its own “zone” for feeding, it is uncommon for them to enter another group’s territory, which can result in conflicts as the silverbacks defend their own.
These are a few examples of the typical plants that mountain gorillas consume. There are more than 140 plant species on the list as a whole. Teclea Nobilis consumes both foliage and fruit. Solanum: consumes foliage Symphonia: consumes foliage Eats decaying wood, fruit, and leaves, is Rapanea Melanophloeos. Desmodium repandum: consumes foliage Olea capense: consumes both fruits and leaves Chrysophyllum: consumes deadwood in addition to fruits. Ganodarma is a type of fungus.
The local guides who accompany those who have the opportunity to hike with mountain gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda demonstrate and elucidate the diverse functions and significance of each plant that the gorillas consume. Certain plants are used medicinally by gorillas and occasionally by humans as well.