Interesting Facts About Gorillas

Posted on | December 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I have often been very drawn to theÂ Gorilla, as they are astounding creatures which have many similar characteristics to humans. Gorillas are large, tender, shy apes that have their homes in the continent of Africa. Gorillas have been made to look like nasty animals by the film industry in the past but are in fact quiet, shy, peaceful vegetarians. These beautifully clever animals are at risk to extinction because of the massive destruction of their home grounds.

Gorillas thatÂ have been put inÂ cages have displayed a huge deal of wisdom learning sign language from people and have been able to create straightforward sentences and communicate with individuals. Only Gorillas in captivity that have been taught have displayed any skill with implements this doesnâ€™t mean to say they havenâ€™t used them in the wild just that they havenâ€™t been observed.

As I mentionaed earlier, Gorillas are mainly quiet animals but they communicate with each other using many complex noises and gestures. This is normally to teach the young the many skills required to live and to talk to other gorillas about social relationships, food, warning etc. Gorillas are mainly herbivores, though occasionally they will consume termites and ants. The moisture they receive from the vegetation they consume is sufficient to infrequently need a drink of water, which isnâ€™t that surprising if you think that a normal male gorilla eats about 50 pounds of food a day.

The work to preserveÂ gorilla habitatsÂ has been carried out by many people over the years but because of the many gorilla safarisÂ the need for protection for these magnificent animals is a lot more critical. Many of these safari businesses limit visitsÂ in theÂ parksÂ to make sure the gorillas arenâ€™t disturbed too frequently. Maintaining this balanceÂ has allowed these safari businesses toÂ provide Wildlife Safaris while ensuring viability of the gorillas habitat.

At earlier stages of their development Gorillas would have lived in the trees but they have evolved into living on the ground mainly living at the forests boundary and near clearings within the rainforests. The average age of a wild gorilla is around 35 years, but gorillas that are put into captivity have been seen to live till around 50.

By around ten or twelve years of age gorillas are able to mate, the pregnancy lasts around 8 to 9.5 months for the female gorilla and she will have around 3 babies in her lifetime. The newly born baby is normally half the weight of a human child. Watching a Gorilla mother bringing up her young is very much like that of a human mother with much care and affection. Young gorillas once weaned create there own beds close to there mothers and will eventually leave their side at about 3 to 4 years old.