Facts about Mountain Gorillas: One of the most amazing creatures in the world are gorillas. Because these giant apes resemble us humans in appearance and social structure, an encounter with them is regarded as one of the best wildlife experiences. One of the four species of gorillas found in Africa are mountain gorillas. The Grauer’s gorilla, the Western lowland gorilla, and the Cross River gorilla are the other three. In this article you are going to see some facts about the mountain gorillas.

Facts about Mountain Gorillas

Only three nations—Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—are home to mountain gorillas. The biggest concentration of gorillas can be found in Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. gorillas can be found in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The brownish lowland gorillas from the west and east can be distinguished from the mountain gorillas by their characteristic thick black fur. Compared to their cousins from the lowlands, they also have shorter arms. There are extremely few of these species left in the wild, and they are classified as a highly endangered species.

Gorilla tourism has increased in popularity as a result. It is the only dependable method available for raising the money needed for the preservation of gorillas in developing nations. Below are some of the facts about these gorillas:

• Mountain gorillas are only found in three countries

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda are the only places where Mountain gorillas can be seen. Compared to their lowland counterparts,  gorillas inhabit more harsh settings and circumstances. They reside at 4,500 meters above sea level. A thrilling sport, tracking gorillas takes you into some of Africa’s thickest jungles to locate these magnificent primates.

The participants are briefed before the activity begins in the early hours of the morning. Following the briefing, the participants are taken on a guided tour by Rangers and Guides to locate a specific guerrilla troop. The tour takes them through dense foliage, plains, streams, and valleys. The duration of the activity can vary from 30 minutes to 5 hours, contingent upon the group’s location on a given day.

Visitors are only allowed to spend an hour with the group after they have been located. This is to prevent human sickness from spreading and to keep the primates calm. It’s a fantastic idea to spend the hour watching the family and taking pictures. You would have seen that they do behave like people by the end of the hour.

• Mountain gorillas are very intelligent and have similar characteristics with humans

These animals are related to us even though they have fur and four legs. They have 98% of our DNA in common and are capable of using a variety of tools, including termite removal. Mountain gorillas are uniquely identifiable, just like humans. Every mountain gorilla has a distinct nose pattern. Like humans, primates live in family groups consisting of a male, other males, females, juveniles, and infants. Observing how gorilla group members interact with one another makes us reflect on our own selves.

• A gorilla group is led by a dominant silverback who will defend the group to point of death

The social groups in which mountain gorillas live can consist of two to forty members. The majority of both male and female members of the group eventually depart to start new groups or join existing ones (female members). A dominant silverback leads the group and sets rules for all activities. He chooses what time and where to go next. An adult human is not as strong as a silverback.

They will eat throughout the morning and evening. Midday is a good time to relax, play, nap, and groom yourself. When night falls, they begin to construct their night nests out of leaves and twigs. In the event that humans, leopards, or other silverbacks attack the group, the silverback will defend them until the very end. But after attempting to scare or threaten the intruder off, this violent measure is only a last option.

• There can be more than one silverback in a mountain gorilla group

Each group has a dominant silverback, but there are other silverbacks in 40% of the groups. When this happens, the dominant male silverback becomes the unquestionable leader of the group.  In contrast to females, male apes do not always depart from the group.

They’ll stick with the group and continue to serve the dominant male in the hopes of gaining power. Some choose to live alone after leaving the family, while others try to woo women away from larger groups in order to begin a family of their own. When there are multiple men in a group, it is the duty of each individual to keep the group safe. While the subordinates will have some offspring of their own, the dominant silverback sires the majority of the offspring.

• Mountain gorillas sleep and spend most of their time on the ground

It is a common misconception that primates like to remain atop trees. For the majority of primates, this may be the case, but not for gorillas. Because of their weight, adult apes cannot consistently climb trees. They won’t do this unless they have to gather ripe fruits from a tree that can sustain their entire weight. They still don’t do this very often. Younger people are more likely to climb short, sturdy trees. This is a result of their lighter weight compared to adults.

• Mountain gorillas are very gentle

A common misconception regarding thes species, in general is that they are aggressive animals that will injure someone if given the opportunity. This is untrue, as gorillas are among the most compassionate and serene animals you will ever come across.

They rarely attack unless threatened and live in a peaceful, well-organized group. They are not to be confused with chimpanzees, who are highly territorial and will hunt antelopes or other smaller primates if the opportunity arises. The gorilla rarely charges. Gorillas, even in times of agitation, will initially try to express their disapproval to an outsider.

• Mountain Gorillas do not eat meat

The primary foods consumed by these great apes include leaves, flowers, tree bark, stems, roots, and ants. To fuel its enormous frame, a silverback can consume up to 18 kg of plants in a single day. Their diet is abundant due to their cold environment, but it is noticeably less varied than that of lowland gorillas.

Their diet is high in tannin due to the amount of leaves and tree bark they consume. The bitter taste in our tea and coffee is caused by the same ingredients. Because of this, compared to lowland gorillas, mountain gorillas have discolored teeth.

• Females leave the group on reaching maturity

At approximately nine years of age, a female mountain gorilla reaches adulthood. The females in this group will move out to find a mate in another group or with a lone silverback once they are able to give birth. One baby is typically given birth to by a female during her nine months of pregnancy. For both tourists and conservationists, twins are an uncommon occurrence to be celebrated.  From the time of birth, an infant weighing approximately 1.8 kg will start to travel on their mother’s back when they are four months old.