Their principal concern is taking care of their young and staying close to the dominant male so he can defend them from any danger and guarantee the survival of their offspring. He is responsible for the social binding and the group security, and if necessary, confront intruders or predators that menace the troop. The group can live in the same area than other groups, but each group has its leader. In some cases, there are two male leaders. The mountain gorilla is a peaceful and social animal with a social structure based on family groups consisting of a dominant male, the “silverback”, a subordinated adult male, several sexually mature females and their offspring. They hardly drink water, because they get it from the plants they eat. Adult females can eat in one day about 18 kilograms of food, but males a lot more, they can eat more than 30 kilos in a single day. According to research they can eat as much as 142 types of plants, but only three types of fruits, this is because the area where they live is very limited in fruit trees thus, leaves, stems, and buds are an 86 percent of their diet. Their diet includes leaves, fruits, roots, bark, flowers, stems and buds, and occasionally small invertebrates, mainly tiny insects like ants, larvae, and snails. Mountain gorillas are mainly herbivorous, as all other types of gorillas. Many inhabit the fertile hills of the Karisimbi, Bisoke and Mikeno volcanoes. Their habitat, usually dense mountainous tropical forests, can be found at altitudes up to 4.300 meters, habitually covered with fog. Their populations are present mainly in the Virunga mountains and the jungle of the Albertine Rift mountains, including the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, the Virunga National Park and the Volcanoes National Park. The mountain gorilla lives in central Africa, in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This subspecies shows sexual dimorphism, which is not always evident.Įstimations indicate that there are only about 300 mature individuals left in the wild. An adult male has an average height of 1.50 meters and weighs 195 kilograms, but the female is only 1.30 meters tall and weighs about 100 kg. The mountain gorilla has a smaller size than the eastern lowland gorilla. They walk supported on their knuckles, but they can stand on their feet for a few moments and walk this way up to 6 meters. Their intestines are long enough to digest the foliage properly, and that is the reason for his prominent abdomen. They have a large brain relative to their body size, strong jaws and 32 teeth adapted to a herbivorous diet. Their stocky body, broad and rounded abdomen, long arms, narrow chest and elongated skull distinguish them from other primates. Males develop a layer of silvery gray fur on the back and thighs, which grants them the name of “ silverback” but not all become leaders of their group. This coat is not present in the face, hands, feet, and ears that are hairless. However, their back hair is shorter compared to the rest of their body. Their skin is thicker, and their dark fur longer and denser than the eastern lowland gorilla, to protect them from the low temperatures of their habitat. The mountain gorilla differs somewhat from the eastern lowland gorilla ( Gorilla beringei graueri) due to the habitat where they live. The word “beringei” of its scientific name comes from the surname of Captain Robert von Beringe Friedrich, a man who in 1902 shot two animals, previously virtually unknown, which were mountain gorillas. The mountain gorilla, who got recognition after the research of the legendary primatologist Dian Fossey, is one of the world’s most endangered primates.
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