Facts about Mountain Gorillas

Facts about Mountain Gorillas: Mountain gorillas are some of the famous apes in the world; the gorillas that share almost 98% of their DNA with humans are some of the world’s most sought after primates that are viewed by hundreds of people in their habitats.

Mountain gorillas are rare and endangered species that are found in only three countries in the world. The gorillas are found in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo with Uganda having the highest number of mountain gorillas living in the south western part of the country.

Hundreds of people visit these three countries throughout the year for a chance to see these rare apes and hundreds of people normally have questions about the different facts on mountain gorillas; so in this article we share some facts about mountain gorillas.

Mountain gorillas as the name states they live in mountainous forests deep inside the forests. They also live in high altitudes of the mountains.
The mountain gorillas are considered the largest and strongest primates in the wild. Though this claim is disputable.
Mountain gorillas are very social animals and live in groups of 3 to 30 individuals. it’s very rare to find a mountain gorilla alone
The mountain gorilla groups are comprised of a male leader (dominant male), related females with their off springs.
Mountain gorilla groups are led by dominant males that are known as silverbacks. Each group will normally have one silverback; groups will more than one silverback in most cases end up splitting.
In the groups both the males and the females take care of the infants and can be seen playing with the infants as well as protecting them from predators and dangers.
The mountain gorilla predators are usually humans that poach these large apes.
The mountain gorillas feed on leaves, shoots, and fruits in some cases they feed on bark, insects and snail. During feeding the silverback feeds first and the whole group can take a whole day feeding.
The silverback also being the leader of his group will fight off anyone or anything that attacks his group and affects its wellbeing even to the point of dying for the group.
Mountain gorillas share about 98% of their DNA with humans so they are able to do some of the things humans can do and on the down side they are also prone the some diseases that affect humans.
These mountain gorillas communicate with unique sounds and gestures that include barks, roars, hoots, beating their chest, struts with their legs among other things.
Mountain gorillas are endangered animals and the main threat to the mountain gorillas’ wellbeing is poaching from humans and the degradation of the gorillas’ habitat. The mountain gorilla habitat degradation is mainly because of the human settlements and activities around the habitats that always extend into the gorillas’ habitat.
The world has a total population of about 1080 mountain gorillas that live in four natural habitats across three countries. The mountain gorillas live in the virunga massif in virunga national park, mgahinga national park and volcanoes national park. The highest population of these mountain gorillas however lives in Bwindi National Park.
The greatest factor to the mountain gorillas survival is their habitat and in their habitats they are able to live up to 40 years or more. They are not very adaptable to captivity so in zoos or areas of captivity they may live less than 40 years.
Because of their strength when the mountain gorillas fight they cause fatal injuries to their opponent.

These are just but a few facts about the famous mountain gorillas. To find out more about the mountain gorillas and how you can trek them, contact Focus East Africa tours arrange for a trip to visit one of the mountain gorilla habitats in the region.