Mountain Gorilla Features Diet & Habits
Mountain Gorilla Features Diet & Habits: A mountain gorilla: what is it? One of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla and one of the strongest primates in the world is the mountain gorilla. Compared to their lowland cousins, these species have shorter arms, longer hair, a large chest, and board hands and feet. Thick black hair is another feature that helps mountain gorillas stay warm in chilly climates.
Mountain Gorilla Behaviors
The silverback, a strong male who serves as the primary leader and guardian, leads families of two to forty mountain gorillas. These gentle giants are incredibly gregarious. Most boys leave their birth family when they are eleven years old. While some prefer to travel alone, others spend a few years traveling with other men until they draw in female companions. All year long, the silverback guides the party to the ideal spots for food and rest. In order to scare off intruders without causing injury, some confrontations are resolved via standoffs and frightening actions.
Gorillas in the mountains A female typically gives birth at the age of ten and has children every four years or more. Newborns weigh roughly four pounds and are fragile. Though they develop nearly twice as quickly, their initial movements are as quick as those of a human infant. After three years of age, when they are increasingly self-sufficient, infants are weaned and nursed. Unfortunately, poachers frequently kill infants.
Characteristics of Mountain Gorillas
Less than 1064 mountain gorillas remain in the wild as of the current census, making them suitable for gorilla trekking. Half of the world’s 600+ great apes live in Uganda, with the remaining half found in the Virunga highlands of Rwanda‘s Volcanoes National Park, the Virunga National Park in Congo, and the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. These critically endangered mountain gorillas are our closest cousins because we share 98% of our DNA with them. You will have a warm welcome in African countries if you trek this rare species. Here are some characteristics of gorillas:
Gorillas have short trucks with large, robust shoulders and chests. Its huge skull and large muscles dwarf its eyes and ears.
Male gorillas start reproducing when they are 12 to 15 years old, while females give birth around the age of 10. In addition to giving birth every four to five years, female gorillas can conceive two to three days each month.
A silverback dominates the gorilla group, which consists of up to 30 members. The silverback is the dominant species among female gorillas, juveniles, and black blacks.
Mountain gorillas can shout, stand on their hind legs, use stems to retrieve ants from holes, stomp their feet, grab foliage, throw food in their mouths, beat their chests, gallop in a pretend attack, and slap the ground with their palms.
Gorillas are mostly preyed upon by humans and leopards. The majority of gorillas are killed for the bush meat trade, however others are kept as pets and for a variety of other purposes. Some gorillas get caught in traps intended for antelopes or other animals.
The long, black, and dense hair on gorillas’ hides helps them regulate their body temperature and keeps them warm at higher, colder elevations.
Similar to how each person’s finger prints are different, so are their nose prints, and mountain gorillas’ feet resemble human feet.
Although rain forests can vary in elevation above sea level, mountain gorillas typically occupy regions with higher elevations between 2200 and 4500 meters.
Gorillas can contract a number of illnesses, including the flu, Ebola, diarrhea, and the common cold.
As they get older, adult male gorillas grow silver fur behind their backs and must rule a gorilla family before they can start their own.
Similar to humans, mountain gorillas have several teeth, which they utilize to break down vegetation. At a later age, they may get milk teeth that are eventually replaced by permanent teeth.
One or two babies are born to female mountain gorillas after an 8–9 month gestation period.
Diet
Primarily herbivores, gorillas can consume up to 18 kilograms of grass every day. Because they eat succulent vegetation that is rich in water and morning dew, they rarely need to drink and prefer celery, wood, and roots. Gorillas don’t drink water since they eat a range of plants that are high in moisture, such as bamboo shoots, stems, fruits, bedstraw, and stinging nettles.
Habitats: In what locations do mountain gorillas reside?
Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in southwest Uganda are the four national parks where these endangered mountain gorillas reside.
For a “one hour spend with mountain gorillas” trek, permits cost USD 700 in Uganda, USD 1,500 in Rwanda, and USD 400 in Congo per person. Similar to Rwanda‘s one-hour gorilla trekking adventure, which costs USD 1,500, Uganda also provides a four-hour “Habituation experience.”