Mountain Gorillas
Dean Jacobs
The Dean of Travel
Look scary?
Ever since gorillas were discovered, people have thought of them as dangerous animals. This is probably because most of the first people ever to see gorillas were hunters. Or they have seen the movie: King Kongand thought that all gorillas acted that way. Most of the experiences I have had with wild gorillas are that they glance up at me when I come near and then go back to eating the green leaves they were munching or go back to sleep for a nap.
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International has been studying mountain gorillas for 40 years. It is the longest study of wild animals in the world. What I am learning comes from the people who have dedicated their lives to the protection of these amazing creatures.Mountain gorillas need protection in the wild becausethey cannot survive in zoos. The approximate 700 remaining mountain gorillas only live in the national parks in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Lunchtime for a Mountain Gorilla
The gorilla is the largest living primate. An adult male mountain gorilla may weigh more than 400 lbs! Adult females are about half that size. They will eat up to 50 lbs of food a day. Gorillas are vegetarians, which means they only eat plants. They eat leaves, stems, roots and berries.
They almost never drink water. They get most of the water they need from eating plants. I once saw a gorilla sucking water from rolled up plant stems, like drinking water from several straws.
Like all apes, gorillas have hairy bodies, arms longer than their legs, and no tails. So if you see a tail, it’s a monkey. Like all primates, they have fingers that can grasp things. They also have eyes on the front instead of on the side of the head.
Monkey or ape? Why?
Why are they called silverbacks?
When the male gorilla becomes an adult, between the ages of 10 to 13, the hair on the saddle of his back turns silver. The adult males also have long shaggy hair on their arms and a high head crest. When I saw this big guy, I quietly said to myself, “Wow!” He was at least twice as big as me.
How do you think the researchers keep track of who’s who in the forest?
If you guessed the gorilla’s nose, you are right! Each nose has a different shape just like people’s fingerprints have different shapes. Since they can’t take the fingerprints of wild animals, they study the shape of the nose to tell the gorillas apart. What do you think? Is your nose different than someone else’s nose?
Which one of these is not like the others?
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has been studying gorillas for 40 years. These wild animals let the researchers get close because they have gained the gorilla’s trust. Through careful study and the amazing ability to get close to the gorillas, scientists have learned much about them, including the fact that while they can be dangerous when angered, they arereally very gentle and peaceful animals.