The Garden of Eaden: WHERE DO GORILLAS LIVE?

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Gorillas are the largest species of primates alive today. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous, and although they are frequently portrayed as aggressive, dangerous killers, they are in reality shy, peaceful vegetarians. Furthermore, because of massive loss of habitat, these majestic primates are now at huge risk of extinction!

Gorillas are divided into two species and then further still into four or five subspecies. The DNA of gorillas is increadibly similar to that of humans, between 95 and 99%! In fact they are our closest living relatives next to chimpanzees.

Gorilla Habitat

The Gorillas natural habitat covers the tropical and subtropical forests of Africa. Although their range covers only a small percentage of Africa, gorillas cover a wide range of elevations. The mountain gorilla inhabits the Albertine Rift montane cloud forests of the Virunga Volcanoes, ranging in altitude from 7,200–14,100 ft. Lowland Gorillas live in dense forests and lowland swamps and marshes as low as sea level, with western lowland gorillas living in Central West African countries and eastern lowland gorillas living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo near its border with Rwanda.

Gorilla Behaviour

Gorillas live in groups called troops. Each troops will tend to be made of one adult male or silverback, multiple adult females, and their offspring. However, multi-male troops also exist.

Silverbacks are typically more than 12 years of age and named for the distinctive patch of silver hair on his back, which comes with maturity. A silverback gorilla has large canine teeth that also come with maturity.

Both males and females tend to emigrate from their natal groups. Dispersal from natal troops is more common in females than males for mountain gorillas. Female mountain gorillas and western lowland gorillas also commonly transfer to a second new group. Mature males tend to also leave their groups and establish their own troops by attracting emigrating females. However, male mountain gorillas sometimes stay in their natal troop and become subordinate to the silverback. They may gain the opportunity to mate with new females or become dominant if the silverback dies. This behavior has not been observed in eastern lowland gorillas.

In a single male group, when the silverback dies, the females and their offspring disperse and find a new troop. Without a silverback to protect them, the infants will likely fall victim to infanticide, and seaching out and joining a new group is likely to be a tactic against this. However, while gorilla troops usually disband after the silverback dies, female eastern lowlands gorillas and their offspring have been recorded staying together until a new silverback transfers into the group. This likely serves to decrease chance of being attacked by leopards. Although very rare, all male troops have also been recorded.

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