Gorillas distribute them selves depending on their types to ease their survival. The distribution of gorillas is mainly in Africa but you will find that they have a very diverse area where they live. This is why they are classified as Eastern and Western Gorilla species. The difference is location brings a slight difference in Gorillas.
Many gorillas decide to stay in the lowlands where there are forests and swamps to easily access water, fruits, fruits and shades for resting. Others reside high up in the mountain regions. The food is more scarce there but the fact that the numbers are lower too means that there is generally enough for them to consume.
Gorillas keep on moving from one place to another to look for food, water and shelter. It should be noted that, gorillas make new nest every evening. This makes it harder to get an exact count as to the number of them remaining in the wild. However, they do have migration patterns that will take them in a radius of many miles. An example is Nyakagezi Gorilla group in Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park- the groups seasonally cross to Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo but comes back after some time- thus move freely in their natural habitat.
The Western Lowland gorillas are mainly found in tropical or rain forested areas. This includes Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Congo, Gabon, and the Western portion of Africa. The Eastern Lowland gorillas are only found in the tropical forest region of Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mountain gorillas stay best in tropical areas but in mountainous regions. They reside from 5,400 feet to 12,400 feet along the areas of Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park, Rwanda’s Volcanoes Park and Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Park. A large number of mountain Gorillas stay in Virunga Mountains.
There are less than 300 of the Cross River gorillas and they are only found in Nigeria and Cameroon.
Since gorillas don’t swim well, the rivers and other water bodies out there are what commonly draw divided lines from where one type of gorilla lives and the others. For the most part these are friendly encounters with each party going their own direction without any conflicts arising.
The distribution is disturbed by people who try to destroy their habitat by cutting down trees, destroying swamps, clearing forest among others. As a result gorillas continue to have a smaller area in which they can survive and some times migrate to other areas.
It should be known that Gorillas are among the good animals which survive in any climate, they can as well do best in zoos all over the world. While many people don’t think they should be distributed to such locations it is a common practice.
They seem to adjust very well as long as their new habitat is one that offers them many things of the wild. However, most of the time gorillas from the wild aren’t placed in captivity. Only those that are bred in captivity generally remain in that location.
It is possible to relocate gorillas to new areas as long as their basic needs are met. Yet the impact that introduction would have on the animals already living on those other areas is hard to determine. With the number of gorillas drastically low, there are plenty of ideas circulating about how to keep them well distributed and able to survive in the wild. If you are to relocate Gorillas make sure, the environment consist of food, water and free from predators like Leopards, Python and other cat species.
Would you like to visit the gorillas in the wild? You can start planning a gorilla safari to Uganda, Rwanda or Congo and get to see the natural wild environments where these great apes survive.
Leave a Reply