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      1. Priority Species
        1. Great Apes

Gorillas

Meet the gorillas

Get up and close to this highly threatened species with our special gorilla section
Mountain gorilla family at play in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Gorilla facts

  • Cross River gorilla is currently the world’s rarest great ape, no more then 300 individuals
  • The Ebola virus wiped 90% of western lowland gorillas in Congo and Gabon
  • The DNA of gorillas is 98%–99% identical to ours
  • By 2030, less than 10% of Gorilla habitat could be left undisturbed
  • Largest primate, gorillas can weight up to 200kg and reach a height of almost 2m (6.5ft) when on two feet
Gorillas are some of the most powerful and striking animals, not only for their size and force, but also for their gentle human like behavior.

They play a crucial role in local boidiversity, roaming through large territories and helping, for example, to spread the seeds of the fruit they consume.

About the gorilla:

Conservation and solutions:
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About the gorilla

Common Name  

Gorilla;
Gorille (Fr);
Gorila (Sp)
Scientific Name   Gorilla spp
Habitat   Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Location   Central Africa
Status  

IUCN: Eastern gorilla - Endangered (EN A2cd)
Western gorilla - Endangered (EN A2cd)

Orphaned Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) reintroduced into the wild.Projet: "Protection des Gorilles", Gabon and Congo Distribution: Tropical Rainforest, Western Central Africa (Nigeria to DRC)

© © Martin HARVEY / WWF-Canon

Orphaned Western Lowland Gorilla reintroduced into the wild.

A highly endangered species

Like all great apes, gorillas are threatened with extinction in the wild.

The main threats to these close relatives of humans are:

How many species of gorillas are there?

There 2 existing gorilla species, eastern and western gorillas. Both species live in equatorial Africa.

There western gorillas have two subspecies: The two eastern gorilla subspecies are
Habituated western lowland gorilla in Dzanga-Sangha, Central African Republic

What is the overall gorilla population?

Western gorillas
The Cross River gorilla is currently the world’s rarest great ape, with a population of only around 300.  They are restricted to a small area of highland forest on the border of Cameroon and Nigeria.

The western lowland gorilla is the most widespread, possibly numbering 100,000. However there are no accurate estimates of numbers as these elusive apes inhabit some of Africa’s densest and most remote rainforests.
An adult male mountain gorilla in the Virunga Mountains, part of the Albertine Rift Ecoregion; WWF-EARPO
Eastern gorillas
Separated from western gorillas by about 900km of Congo Basin forest, eastern gorillas inhabit the upland and mountain forests of eastern Central Africa.

The eastern lowland or Grauer’s are classified as endangered, but there are no reliable estimates of their numbers due to lack of census data in remote regions, as well as the unknown impact of decades of civil conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. At one time the population could have reached 17,000.

The mountain gorillas are Critically Endangered with a total population of approximately 700 individuals, split almost into two groups:
  • one in the Virunga range of volcanoes on the Uganda-Rwanda-DRC border,
  • and the other in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.
Thanks to conservation efforts, the Virunga population increased by 14% in the last years and the Bwindi population increased by 12% over the past decade.

Despite this success, the subspecies is still highly threatened.
Rainforest in Dzanga Sangha National Park. Western lowland gorillas favor areas of dense vegetation.

© © Chloé Cippoletta

Western lowland gorillas, for example, favor areas of dense vegetation such as the rainforest in Dzanga Sangha National Park

Where do gorillas live?

Gorillas typically live in the lowland tropical rainforests of Central Africa, although some subspecies are found in montane rainforest (between 1,500 and 3,500 meters) and in bamboo forest (between 2,500 to 3,000 meters).

The main countries where gorillas can be found in are:
  • Angola
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Congo
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Gabon
  • Guinea
  • Nigeria
  • Rwanda
  • Uganda

Largest living primate

Gorillas are the largest living primates and, in the wild, adult males can weigh up to 200kg, while females are around half this size.  When standing on two feet gorillas can reach a height of 1.2-1.7 meters.

Physical Description
Gorillas are stocky animals with large hands and forearms that are much shorter than their upper arm.  They've got broad chests and shoulders and have black, and hairless faces. Their eyes are small and close together while their nostrils are large and prominent.

Adult males are identified by a sagittal crest along the midline of the skull and an area of white hair on the back, which is why they are known as ‘silverbacks.’

Eastern gorillas are larger and have darker and longer fur, particularly on their arms.  In comparison, western lowland gorillas have shorter hair that is gray or brown with a tendency to red on their heads.

To add to these differences, lighter hair on western silverbacks stretches to their thighs, as opposed to the more defined one in the dark backs of eastern gorillas.

Mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) adult playing with youngster. Mountain gorillas are distributed throughout Uganda, Rwanda and Congo.

© Martin HARVEY / WWF-Canon

Adult mountain gorilla playing with youngster.

Face-to-face with gorillas

Meet the Makumba "family", a group of 12 gorillas that have been habituated to human presence.

Social Structure and "family" life

Gorillas have a well-developed social structure. They live and travel in family groups which vary from 2 to over 50 members, but more often gorilla familiies are about 5 to 10 individuals in size.

According to group size, habitat quality and food availability, gorillas’ home range may vary from five to over 30km², with frequent overlap between group ranges.

Gorillas form stable groups with the dominant male keeping his position for years. If a male leaves a group, he wanders alone for a number of years, then sometimes establishes a range next to to or overlapping that of his old group.

Adult males that stay in a group are generally the offspring of the dominant male and eventually will take over leadership.

As a general rule, female gorillas leave their group at maturity to join other groups or single males, although cases of females reproducing in their original groups are known.
Western lowland gorilla in Dzanga-Sangha, Central African Republic

Life cycle

The mortality rate for gorillas less than one year old is high, but for adults the rate is only five percent. In the wild, they might live to be 40 years old.  In the United States, acaptive gorilla was reported to have lived to the age of 54.

Breeding

Females become sexually mature at seven or eight years old but do not start to breed until several years later. Males mature later than females, with few breeding before the age of 15 years.

High infant mortality, a long gestation (eight and a half months), a tendency to single births, and a prolonged period of maternal care mean that, on average, only one baby is reared in a four to six year period. Females generally give birth to only three or four surviving young during their reproductive life.

What do gorillas eat?


Gorillas are mainly herbivorous (vegetarian) and spend almost half of the day feeding on stems, bamboo shoots, and a variety of fruits, supplemented with bark and invertebrates. At some sites, western lowland gorillas have been known to break open termite nests and feed on the larvae.

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