GORILLAS

• Appearance• Habitat• Food• Behaviour

Appearance• “Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is the smallest of all three subspecies - weighing around 180 kg (396 lb) for an adult male - and lives in the tropical forests of West Africa. Lowland gorillas in general are similar in appearance. The western lowland gorilla is the most common type of gorilla found in zoological facilities and is the species cared for at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. • Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla graueri) is slightly larger in size weighing up to 220 kg (484 lb) and darker in coloration than the western lowland gorilla. They live in the rainforests of central Africa. • Mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) is the largest and rarest of all three subspecies. Adult males may weigh over 227 kg (500 lb.) They are found at high elevations of the Virunga Volcano range that separates Zaire from Rwanda and Uganda. Their hair is longer and darker than their lowland counterparts due to the colder climate of the high elevation. Mountain gorillas are taller, have a more pointed head, have a wider gap in the middle of the nose, and lack a reddish patch of hair on their heads, common to lowland gorillas.”

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/scientific-classification.htm

Habitat

“1. The western lowland gorilla inhabits the tropical forests of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, and Equatorial Guinea (West Africa). 2. The eastern lowland gorilla inhabits the tropical forests of Eastern Zaire. 3. The mountain gorilla inhabits the high altitude (1,650-3,790 m/5,413-12,435 ft) tropical forests of Zaire, Rwanda, and Uganda (around the Virunga volcanoes). 4. The Cross River gorilla inhabits a small area between Nigeria and Cameroon.”

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/habitat-&-distribution.htm

“Gorillas primarily inhabit tropical forest habitats. Tropical forests are characterized as having little variance in temperature (around 23°C) and length of daylight (around 12 hours).”

Food

“Gorillas are able to survive on vegetation such as leaves, stems, roots, vines, herbs, trees, and grasses but such vegetation has relatively low nutritional quality. Therefore, they must consume a larger quantity, but it is available year-round.”

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/diet.htm

“FOOD INTAKE 1. An adult male gorilla may consume more than 18 kg (40 lb) of vegetation per day. 2. Gorillas rarely drink in the wild because they consume succulent vegetation that is comprised of almost half water as well as morning dew.”

Behaviour

“Gorillas are non-territorial and live in groups called troops that generally consist of 1 to 4 adult males (called silverbacks), some juvenile males (called black-backs), several adult females and young.”

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/behavior.htm

“The oldest and strongest adult male silverback is usually dominant in the troop and has exclusive breeding rights to the females.”

“Troop populations usually range in size from 2 to 12 individuals with 9 being the average. They are highly synchronized in their activity patterns. If a troop consists of multiple silverbacks they are usually the sons of the dominant adult male silverback. One of the largest gorilla troops identified had 4 silverbacks, 5 blackbacks, 12 adult females, and 16 young.”

“Gorilla troops have a home range between 4-25 km2 (1.5-9.7 miles2).”

Question 1

What were three of the types of

Gorillas mentioned?

Question 2

Around what area of the world do

Gorillas normally reside?

Question 3

What are some of the foods that Gorillas eat?

Question 4

What do you call a group of Gorillas and

how many Gorillas are normally in each

‘group’?

Question 5

Which Gorilla normally

dominates?

References

Wikipedia. (2010). Gorilla. Retrieved 29th-30th July, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla

Sea World/Busch Garden ANIMALS. (2010). GORILLAS. Retrieved 29th-30th July, 2010, from http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/index.htm