Silverback Gorilla Fun Facts
Silverback Gorilla Fun Facts; However, the world is full of mysterious attractions and activities to engage in different Gorilla safari destination. The Silverback Mountain gorilla experience is quite fascinating experience filled with amazing facts that will leave you in awe. These unique creatures are known for their immense huge size and strength, have long captured the imagination of wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists.
This article, brings the real facts of silverback mountain gorillas’ lives, their unique behaviors, habitats and conservation efforts. Get to discover how these incredible animals navigate the lush rainforests of Central Africa, forming intricate social structures and exhibit their unique intelligence. From their captivating family dynamics to their complex communication methods and uncovering the hidden live of these gentle giants. Well, it’s our task to provide you an immersive experience that will leave you with a new found appreciation for their amazing existence and need to protect their fragile habitat.
Below is a list of an amazing facts about silverback gorillas -mountain gorillas which is truly interesting;
There are two species of gorilla
In the world, there are two species of gorillas; the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla. However, each species is divided into two groups and are distributed in four gorilla subspecies that is eastern mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, western cross-river gorillas and western lowland gorillas.
Silverbacks are eastern mountain gorillas living in forests of the Virunga Mountains, which is a mountain range bordering Rwanda, Uganda and Congo. More fact, Uganda gorillas live at elevations from 8,000 to 13,000 feet, the same height a skydiver jumps out of a plane!
Well, fact silverback mountain gorillas have longer and thicker fur and longer arms and legs compared to other species.
Silverback gorillas are quadrupedal primates – meaning they walk on four limbs.
They are vegetarian
Most interesting facts about mountain gorillas is their size and they stick to a vegetarian diet such as eating stems, bamboo shoots and fruits. Although, they have a limited choice of fruit due to the high altitude of their habitat.
Adult male gorillas can eat more than 18 kilograms of vegetation daily and use their fabulous strength to breath apart trees and trunks. For example, they can eat the whole banana tree to get to the tender interior pith.
Uganda Gorillas are selective foragers on food. Instead, they harvest vegetation in a way that permits for quick replenishment.
They rarely drink water;
Silverback Mountain Gorillas rarely drink water because their diet majorly consists of succulent vegetation with water and morning dew.
They get their needed moisture from the food they eat. They consume a lot of food and they spend half of their day eating.
Dian Fossey famously known as an American primatologist due to het extensive studies on mountain gorillas’ groups. Well, primates have an obvious dislike of rain and they seem to dislike water in general.
They are massive and powerful;
Silverback Gorillas are one of the biggest and strongest primates. Of which, they can grow four to six feet tall and weigh from 135 kilograms to 220 kilograms.
The tallest silverback recorded 6height tall with an arm span of 2.8 meters and a chest measuring 1.98 meters across.
More fact, silverbacks are stronger than any human being and they can be 20 times stronger compared to adult humans and can throw up to 815 kilograms. Besides their size, they are fast runners and can reach speeds between 23 and 25 mph. More to that, their bites are incomparable to any other animals.
Their large canines can measure over 1,300 pounds per square inch, which is higher than predatory lions and whose bite covers 650 pounds per square inch.
They are gentle and shy;
Silverback mountain gorillas are strong and large, but they rarely show off their energy in the wild. Besides that, they are gentle creatures that prefers to forage for food and laze around all day. To those who have visited gorillas in Rwanda, it’s noted that the mountain gorillas there are shy and reserved around humans.
But after training them and get used to eye contact with human, they become friendly and affectionate. And because of their characteristics, they are often called gentle giants. Silverbacks can be very aggressive when they are threatened. They won’t think twice about showing off their strength when this happens. Although, silverback often charge when provoked, but most of the time, these attacks are fake.
They only act aggressively to provide their family time to flee for safety.
They live in group;
Gorillas are social animals and live in groups named troops.
Generally, one troop comprises of one to four that is adult males, young males, several adult females and young stars and adult silverback is the one in charge of the group. When the head of the group dies, the group dissolves or a young silverback male takes over.
The average group contains 4 to 10 individual members. Note, members have solid relationships and are highly adjusted in their activity patterns.
They are clever;
Mountain gorillas are one of the most intelligent creatures, though they are less curious and adaptable than chimpanzees, gorillas can also use tools.
Scientists have proved that gorillas use branches to gauge the depth of streams and rivers, which makes ladders to help their young reach treetops and even using sticks as a form of cutlery when eating ants to avoid being bitten.
Moreso, Mountain gorillas are known for their thrilling communication skills. They have been recorded making 25 different vocalizations to communicate distress, alarm, contentment and aggression.
It’s unbelievable a mountain gorilla named Koko learnt human sign language. Over her lifetime, she learned 1,000 signs and can understand over 2,000 English words.
Their nose prints are unique;
Definitely, number of mountain gorillas look different from one another.
They differ in body size and facial features, making it easy for researchers to identify each. However, two primates look to muck alike. Therefore, primatologist Dian Fossey developed a method for easy identification of Mountain Gorillas.
Dian fossey, during her research, noted that every mountain gorilla has stunning nose prints, just like human fingerprints.
Mountain gorillas have the most apparent nose prints among the four ‘’4’’ subspecies of gorillas. Due to the result, these prints have become a crucial part of studies involving primates.
They can live up to 40 years old;
Those in the wild has a lifespan of 35 to 40 years though they often live longer in captivity, sometimes can spend over 50 years.
Silverback mountain gorillas are endangered
In the past years, the gorilla population has declined due to three main reasons; habitat loss, disease and poaching.
Fact is that, forest where gorillas live are being destroyed due to commercial logging and agricultural use, forcing them to live in challenging conditions as well as disease outbreaks.
For example, in 2022 over 95 per cent of Mountain Gorillas died from an Ebola outbreak in Congo thus leading to decline in their number. Another threat to gorillas is the poachers who hunt gorillas to sell to wealthy collectors who use them as trophies or pets. Yet, sometimes are being killed in traps set for other animals.
Thanks goes to the conservation initiative which Dian Fossey began to support the life of these gentle apes in their nature habitants. In recent years, the gorilla population has increased, which has led the International Union for Conservation of Nature ‘’IUCN’’ to change the gorilla’s status from critically endangered to endangered.
And today, millions of visitors visit Uganda, Rwanda and DRC’s Virunga mountains and rainforest of Uganda to be part of small groups of trekkers in order to meet up with these great mountain gorillas where you can be allowed to spend one hour with a silverback and his entire family on Gorilla Trekking Safaris.
Lastly, Gorilla trekking safari is quite unforgettable experience and creates memories that will last a lifetime.
Get started now! Start planning now your next travel safari destination. If you don’t hesitate, you can contact us Achieve Global Safaris for more details.
