By Hannah
Gorilla Gorilla
Female Gorillas live in harems controlled by a silverback male. Life in a Gorilla harem is usually peaceful and relaxed.
Gorillas build nests in trees or on the ground to sleep in at night, and most make rougher nests for midday naps.
The silverback leader dictates where his group goes, what it does, and when.
Male competition for females is intense and the attempts of silverbacks to lure females from a harem can lead to ferocious battles.
Physical description: Very large, black or grey ape with a wide chest, pot belly, long thick arms, and short legs. They have wide hands and feet with thick fingers and toes. Bare skin areas are black. They have a large head with a big brow ridge, powerful jaws and large teeth.
Height: The standing height for gorillas is 1.21-1.82 m.
Weight: About 68-209 kg.
Habitat: Moist habitats with green plant life, mainly in or near lowland rain forests or mountain cloud forests.
Range: Africa. Western Lowland Gorilla lives in lowland rain forests of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo. Eastern Lowland Gorilla found in a few patches of rain forest in eastern Zaire and adjacent countries.
Threats: The main problem for the gorillas is their loss of habitat. Forest is being converted to crop production and livestock grazing in many parts of Africa. Commercial logging and petroleum exploitation are also problems. As new roads are made for timber or mineral mines, there is more of a need for forest animals to supply food to support the external work force and to export to urban markets. War can also have an effect as people are forced to abandon their homes and live in the forest and need to hunt to survive or as a source of income. Gorilla meat is only a small part of the bush meat trade, but because of their slow birth rate and the impact on the harem when a leading gorilla is killed, it is still relatively serious. When food is scarce gorillas will often be required to raid crops to find food, which leads to them being hunted by farmers. Gorillas are also often killed or maimed by traps or snares set for other animals.
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By Monique
Gorilla's
The largest Great Ape!
A troop of Gorilla's live in approximately groups of 30. A troop will include one male, many females. Lowland gorillas live in rainforests in West and East Africa, mountain gorillas live in the Democratic, Rwanda and Uganda Rainforests. The Gorillas like to eat plants and insects. The wild Gorillas have a big potbelly which is full of bulky plants. Females can weigh up to 200 pounds (90kg) and up to 5 feet in height which is 1.5m standing. Males can weigh up to 400 pounds (180kg) and up to 6 feet in height which is 1.8 m standing.
Did you Know? That the male adult has a silvery back. The male gorilla is very protective of his family; he will stand and beat his chest to scare away predators. This is where the idea of King Kong came from. But Gorillas normally have a quiet life.
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By Sarah
GORILLAS
HABITAT
Gorillas can be found in forest habitats in Congo, Gabon and African countries. They are also found in the Virunga Volcanoes and in the Bwindi area. Some are in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Westwards to Kasese.
POPULATION
There is no accurate estimate of how many wild gorillas there are. But over the years surveys have established that are about 100,000 individual western lowland Gorillas in the Gabon and Congo region. Recent reports state that the number of gorillas has declined over the years do to bushmeat operations.
In the Nigeria-Cameroon region recent estimates suggest that only 150-200 remain from the 1,500 that once existed. Estimates in the 1990's suggest that fewer than 350 mountain gorillas exist in the Virunga Volcanoes and fewer than 300 in the Bwindi area.
FOOD
Gorillas are vegetarians, who eat roots, fruits, shoots, leaves, termites, bark, and pith. Due to their size gorillas need large amounts of food. During the dry season they eat more herbs and bark. Due to their diet of fruit, and leaves containing due in the morning, gorillas require no further source of water.
FAMILY GROUPS
Primates, in general, are very social animals, and mountain gorillas are no exception. They live in small family groups consisting of varying numbers of males, females, infants, and juveniles. Each group is led by a dominant male gorilla. The dominant silverback protects his group and leads in the search for food. In most monkey populations, the females stay with their family, while the males leave their groups at adolescence. In effect, mothers, daughters, sisters, and grandmothers stay together in family groups. A different social structure emerges among gorillas--females leave their family and join other groups.
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By Fiona
Gorilla
SPECIES:
There are two separate species of gorillas. They are the Western and Eastern gorillas. There are five subspecies of gorilla. They are the Mountain gorilla, the Bwindi Forest, the Eastern and Western lowlands and the Cross River gorilla are the Western gorilla species. These gorillas belong to Class Mammalia, Order Primala, Family Pongidae, and Genus Gorilla. Both of those species are critically endangered. You can find gorillas in eight countries in Central and West Africa.
DIET:
Gorillas are vegetarians. They eat roots, fruits, shoots, leaves, termites, bark, pith and grubs growing from rotting wood. Because gorillas are big, they eat a lot. 67% of what they eat is fruit, 17% is seeds, leaves, stems and pith. In the dry season they eat more herbs and bark. Gorillas don't share their food with anyone else.
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