The Greater Apes: The ground dwellers Gorillas

The greater apes, the gorillas. Also known as the ground dwelling ape.

Gorillas

They are found in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. In the Virunga Massif, that borders the three countries.

They are huge weighing up to 195 kilograms and stand close to 1.8 meters high. The males are bigger in size than their female counter parts.

They are known of their knuckle-walking whereby , their fore arms rest on the knuckles while walking. While carrying stuff and in defensive, they can walk bipedally like humans.

They heavily feed on the plants. But the diet do differ within the species. Whereby, the Eastern lowland gorillas include a higher quantity of fruits compared to what the Mountain gorilla consume.

Chimpanzees are the closest to humans, and Gorilla follows shortly after the bonobos.

Unlike the other greater apes, gorillas build their nests on the ground and not on trees. This is maybe due to their huge physical structure. The baby gorillas just like the baby chimpanzees, sleep with their mums.

Gorillas subspecies

• Western gorilla which involves the Western lowland gorillas and Cross river gorilla
• Eastern gorilla which involves Mountain gorilla and Eastern lowland gorilla.

They are social beings

A group of gorillas is known as a troop. Which comprises of one dominant adult male, a number of females and their babies. Although it has been noted that several adult males may be noted in some troops.

The dominant adult males plays the same roles as the dominant chimpanzee.

They can be able to live up to 40 years in the wild and almost more than 50 years in captivity.

Similarities to the other greater apes

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