Gorilla
Karla Ganger
Gorilla Doctors is the only organization in the world dedicated to conserving mountain and eastern lowland (Grauer's) gorillas in the wild through veterinary medicine and science using a One Health approach. We appreciate your support as we continue to protect the health of these endangered animals.
The Gorilla Foundation is best known for conducting the longest interspecies communication study in history (almost 5 decades) and the only one involving gorillas: Project Koko. Our mission, Conservation through Communication applies the results and lessons of interspecies communication (with gorillas Koko, Michael and Ndume) to save gorillas from extinction in the wild, dramatically improve their care in captivity, and continue our exciting dialogue with Nature. Everyone can learn to sign, and all gorillas are Kokos, and these 2 realizations make saving the great apes both a worthwhile and highly reachable goal. Please join us and expedite the process!
Our western lowland gorillas share their expansive outdoor habitat with a small family of red river hogs. The gorilla habitat is large, and the gorillas have an indoor habitat as well, so you may not see them on camera all the time.
Many people like to compare gorillas with humans, but there are several differences. Although they are able to stand upright, gorillas prefer to walk using their hands as well as their legs. Their arms are much longer than their legs, and gorillas can use the backs of their fingers like extra feet when they walk. This is called the knuckle walk.
Gorillas are generally peaceful creatures, but sometimes a younger male from another troop challenges the silverback. To scare unwanted gorillas away, he beats his chest with cupped hands to make a loud noise, screams, bares his teeth, and then charges forward. Sometimes he breaks off branches and shakes them at the intruder. It is an awesome display!
Young gorillas learn by imitating what the others in the troop are doing and by play fighting with other youngsters. Even the stern silverbacks are gentle with the little ones as they practice new skills. A young gorilla stays close to its mom, sharing her nest, until it is four to six years old. Gorillas have been known to nurse for up to three years.
Gorillas have no natural enemies or predators, yet these peaceful creatures are at critical risk because of humans. People hunt gorillas for food called bushmeat, and logging and mining companies destroy gorilla habitat. The recent armed conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has caused refugees to pour into previous gorilla habitat. Disease epidemics such as the Ebola virus have recently decimated gorilla populations that were previously considered secure within their natural habitat.
The past 15 years have seen a dramatic decline in gorilla population size, with almost half of the entire eastern gorilla population suspected to have been wiped out. Illegal hunting has become a lucrative activity in the region. While hunters often lay snares targeting other mammals, sadly, many gorillas die or lose limbs after being accidentally ensnared. An illegal pet trade is also on the rise. Behind each infant gorilla caught by poachers, several family members are often killed.
The critical conservation status of gorillas underscores the urgency for gorilla conservation science. In collaboration with wildlife managers and conservation scientists in countries where gorilla populations survive, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is involved in the training of range-country conservation scientists in the application of genetic tools and field methods in assessing and monitoring surviving gorilla populations. Performing the first genetic studies on populations of mountain gorillas, it was discovered that regionally, these gorillas are genetically distinct.
Genetic differences were also found within western lowland gorilla populations, which had been considered a single subspecies. By gathering and analyzing fecal samples from gorillas, conservation scientists from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and wildlife authorities and conservationists in Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon can shed light on the genetic variation across regions.
Africa may seem far away, but there are some things you can do to help! When you buy wood or furniture, ask if the wood has been certified. This means the wood was taken in a way approved by forestry experts. Buying certified wood encourages logging companies in Africa to follow wildlife laws that help protect gorillas and other African wildlife.
Did you know that cellphones have a connection to the well-being of gorillas and other wildlife in central Africa? Here's the 411: cellphones contain a rare ore called coltan (short for columbite-tantalite). This metal is found in central Africa, and increased mining operations to get the coltan means habitat loss and increased hunting pressure on gorillas and other wildlife. Surprisingly, wildlife reserves suffer most from mining. With the increased popularity of cellphones, thousands of illegal miners have invaded the protected parks. Needing food, they have hunted gorillas and elephants to near extinction in these areas.
The gorilla's coat color is black. Short, thin, gray-black to brown-black hair covers the entire body except the face. Western lowland gorillas may have a more brownish coloration. A small white tuft of hair on their rump distinguishes infants up to four years old. The white patch helps the mother keep track of the infant and assists other group members in identifying the gorilla as an infant.
Mature silverback males have a saddle of white hair across the small of their backs. In western lowland gorillas, the silver may extend to rump and thighs. Western lowland females may go gray below the ears and on the neck and top of the head as they age. Compared to other subspecies, western lowland gorillas have a more pronounced brow ridge and ears that appear small in relation to their heads. They also have a differently shaped nose and lip than other subspecies.
Adult male gorillas' heads look conical due to the large bony crests on the top and back of the skull. These crests anchor the massive muscles used to support and operate their large jaws and teeth. Adult female gorillas also have these crests, but they are much less pronounced.
In comparison to the mountain gorilla, the western lowland gorilla has a wider and larger skull, and their big toe is spread apart more from the alignment of the other four toes. Gorillas' arms are longer than their legs; when they move on all fours, they knuckle-walk, supporting their weight on the third and fourth digits of their curled hands. Like other primates, each individual has distinctive fingerprints. Gorillas also have unique nose prints.
Gorillas are the largest of the great apes, but the western lowland gorilla is the smallest of the subspecies. Males are much larger than females. Adult males weigh an average of 300 pounds (136.1 kilograms) and up to 500 pounds (226.8 kilograms). They stand up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall.
Western lowland gorillas are broadly distributed across the Congo Basin, and are more or less continuously distributed across the countries of Gabon, Central Africa Republic, Cameroon, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo.
Though present historically in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they are now likely extinct there. Western lowland gorilla ranges have been measured from 9 to 14 square miles (14.5 to 22.5 square kilometers), rarely overlapping other troops.
The average distance traveled in a day is usually less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers), with longer distances traveled when more fruit is abundant. Because of their large size, gorillas spend most of their time on the ground.
Gorillas communicate using auditory signals, visual signals and odors. They are generally quiet animals but they may also scream, bark and roar. Scientists have heard up to 22 different gorilla vocalizations, each seeming to have its own meaning.
Some examples of gorilla "body language" include crouching low and approaching from the side when being submissive; walking directly when confident and standing, slapping their chests and advancing when aggressive.
Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, eating the leaves and stems of herbs, shrubs and vines. They also eat the fleshy fruits of close to a hundred seasonally fruiting tree species. Other gorilla subspecies eat proportionally less fruit. Gorillas get some protein from invertebrates found on leaves and fruits. Adult male gorillas eat about 45 pounds (32 kilograms) of food per day. Females eat about two-thirds of that amount.
Forage items placed in hay for the gorillas include popcorn, sunflower seeds, peanuts, "enrich bits," beans and diced fruits and vegetables. Fresh tree trimmings are given daily. Some of the gorillas favorite browse; options are Bradford pear, willow, mulberry with berries and maple.
There are three feeding behaviors sometimes observed in gorillas in human care that can bother visitors. These behaviors are natural, though not to humans. They are regurgitation and reingestion, coprophagy (eating feces) and urine drinking. Regurgitation and reingestion involves an animal regurgitating some of its food and re-eating it. Biologists do not entirely understand why gorillas exhibit this behavior in human care.
Gorillas live in groups, or troops, from two to over 30 members. But data seems to indicate that western lowland gorillas live in smaller groups, averaging about five individuals. Groups are generally composed of a silverback male, one or more black back males, several adult females and their infant and juvenile offspring. This group composition varies greatly due to births, deaths and the immigration and emigration of individuals.
All gorillas over three years of age make both day nests for resting and night nests for sleeping. Infants share their mothers' nests. Gorillas form nests by sitting in one place and pulling down and tucking branches, leaves or other vegetation around themselves. Adult males usually nest on the ground. Females may nest on the ground or in trees. Juveniles are more apt to nest in trees. Studies of western lowland gorillas have shown that the number of nests found at a site does not necessarily coincide with the number of weaned animals observed in a group.
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