Gorilla pictures and facts

Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are the largest living primates. The Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) beringei) lives in the Virunga mountains in Africa. The Virunga mountains are a group of vulcanoes in East africa, bordering Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. Males weigh usually twice as much as females (up to 227 kilograms). There are 380 gorillas in 30 social groups, according to a study done in 2004. They live in groups which consist of the 'silverback', the leader; blackbacks (1 or 2); sexually mature females (3 to 4); and the infants and juveniles (3 to 6). The sizes of the group vary from 5 to 30 animals. Conflicts are often resolved by display which consists of the following steps (from wikipedia): The entire sequence has nine steps: (1) hooting slow to fast, (2) symbolic feeding, (3) rising bipedally, (4) throwing vegetation, (5) chest-beating with cupped hands, (6) one leg kick, (7) sideways running, two-legged to four-legged, (8) slapping and tearing vegetation, and (9) thumping the ground with palms to end display (Maple and Hoff 1982). The main threats for the mountain gorilla are war, poaching, human disease, and habitat loss.

Picture by Kurt Ackermann, licensed under Attribution License v. 2.5