Gorillas are regarded as mammals since they are warm blooded vertebrate animals with fur on their bodies and have mammary glands and produce their young ones live. Gorillas are the hugest species of the primate family and are one of the closest relatives of humans with 98% DNA similarity to that of man.
The other primates that are related to man are the chimpanzees, gibbons and orangutans. These primates different from the others as they do not have a tail at the hind as they are called the Apes. All these apes including the gorillas have the same respiratory, nervous and immune systems and almost the same skull structure as man.
In contrast with other primates, the gorillas are terrestrial animals implying that they spend most of their living time on the ground, they do not climb trees. These gorillas normally inhabit in much forested areas that is why they are only found in the tropical rain forests region of Africa. Gorillas are very shy peaceful animals that cannot harm humans unless incited although some people perceive the as dangerous and violent breasts. Gorillas are predominately herbivorous animals that feed on the plants and on some occasion small invertebrates (insects) in the forests. They have an average life span of 35-40 years if all conditions remain constant.
Quick Facts
- Gorillas possess 98% of the same nuclear DNA as humans
- There’s a greater degree of difference between gorilla vs chimp DNA in contrast to gorilla vs human DNA
- Gorillas are the biggest primate (note humans are primates)
- Gorillas, chimpanzees and humans are classified under the same family–Hominidae
- Gorillas and chimps used to be classified under the family Pongidae–Now only the orangutan remains in the Pongidae family
- There’re two species of gorilla: Western Gorilla and Eastern Gorilla
- The largest subspecies of gorilla is the Grauer’s gorilla (eastern lowland gorilla)
- A group of gorillas is called a troop
- A silverback gorilla is so-called because of the greyish/silver patch he gains on his back when he attains maturity
- Eastern gorillas tend to have blacker hair than their Western counterparts who tend to be browner
- Gorillas have hair not fur
- Mountain gorillas have longer hair, larger jaws and teeth, smaller noses and shorter arms than other gorillas
- Gorilla arms are longer than their legs and in the western gorilla the male’s arm span extends 7-9 feet–longer than the gorilla is tall
- Not a single one of the gorillas in zoos around the world is a mountain gorilla–they are all lowland gorillas
- Mountain gorillas tend to die in captivity
- Most gorillas seen on safari are habituated mountain gorillas (bwindi subspecies too)
- Gorillas are mainly folivorous though they may supplement their diet with insects and small animals
- Gorillas live to approx. 35-40yrs in the wild and about 50 years in captivity
- Male gorilla heights average between 5.6 -6.0 feet (1.7 – 1.8 meters)
- Male gorillas weigh between 300 – 500 lbs (136 -227 kgs)
- Female gorillas are significantly smaller. Height: usually no more than 5ft (1.5 meters) Weight 150-200 lbs (68-91kgs)
- Gorillas are naturally found only in Africa
- Western gorillas are found in the West-Central African region
- Eastern gorillas live in the East-Central African region
- An adult male eats up to 40 pounds of food a day
- Dian Fossey was the foremost person responsible for alerting the public at large to the plight of the mountain gorilla
- Gorillas like other primates are now known to use tools–even wild gorillas have been observed using tools
- December 22, 1956 was the date of the first registered gorilla birth in captivity at Columbus Zoo in Ohio
- Until the late 1970s, thousands of gorillas were slaughtered in order to capture young gorillas destined for zoos
- By the end of 1991, 53% of all gorillas in zoos were born in captivity
- To date more than 760 gorillas reside in over 140 zoos