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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
Western
lowland gorilla |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Primates |
| FAMILY: |
Hominidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Gorilla
gorilla gorilla (hairy human) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
These
great apes have black to grayish or reddish-brown
hair that covers the body except on face, soles
of hands and feet, and upper chest. |
| MALE |
All
males acquire a silver-gray color across the back
and upper thighs at sexual maturity. Males have
an enlarged sagittal crest, which is a bone ridge
on the top of the cranium. |
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| SIZE: |
|
| MALE |
Up
to 1.7 m (5.5 ft) |
| FEMALE |
Up
to 1.4 m (4.5 ft) |
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| WEIGHT: |
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| MALE |
Up
to 182 kg (400 lbs) |
| FEMALE |
Up
to 102 kg (225 lbs) |
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| DIET: |
More
than 200 types of plants: fruits, stems, flowers,
shoots, bulbs, bark, leaves, pith, as well as invertebrates
such as termites and ants; seasonal frugivores. |
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| GESTATION: |
250-285
days |
| ESTRAL
PERIOD |
Cycles
every 32 days |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
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| MALE |
11
years |
| FEMALE |
6.5
years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
40
years in zoological setting; wild studies of longevity
have only been going on for 10 years, so far life
span is inconclusive. |
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| RANGE: |
African
countries of Cameroon, Peoples Republic of Congo,
Gabon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial
Guinea |
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| HABITAT: |
Tropical
forests, swamp forests, clearings and forest edges |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Unknown |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Appendix
I |
| USFWS |
Endangered |
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| 1. |
The
intimidating chest-beating charge of a male gorilla
is usually a bluff to scare off intruders while
the rest of his band disappears into the forest.
However, it is also used in play as well. |
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| 2. |
Wild
gorillas are difficult to study because they are
shy, secretive inhabitants of densely vegetated
tropical forests. |
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| 3. |
The
huge silverback is a tolerant father who baby-sits
for his offspring so the females can forage without
the hindrance of playful young. |
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| 4. |
During
the early weeks, a newborn gorilla is clutched belly-to-belly
(ventral) for close contact until it develops the
strength and coordination to cling onto its mother's
back (dorsal) hair at about two months. |
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| 5. |
The
differences between monkeys and apes are easy to
see once you know what to look for. Apes do not
have a tail and are generally larger than most other
primates. They have a more upright body posture
as well. Apes rely more on vision than on smell
and have a short broad nose rather than a snout,
as Old World monkeys do. Apes have a larger brain
relative to the body size than other primates do. |
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| 6. |
For
more information about gorillas, explore the gorilla
info book. |
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Like
the other apes, gorillas feed on seasonal fruits
and disperse seeds in their dung as they travel
from region to region. Because of new plant growth
that occurs in bright sunlight, gorillas like
to forage in areas cleared by elephants, storms,
and even people. They leave behind seeds that
generate new growth.
There
are only five subspecies of gorilla left in the
wild. Habitat loss and poaching are the main causes
behind gorilla deaths.
Mbeli
Bai Gorilla Study:
Busch Gardens is the primary financial support
for this behavioral and ecological study on lowland
gorillas which is part of the Noubale-Ndoki Project
supported by Wildlife Conservation Society in
Northern Congo.
Busch
Gardens continues to support the Mbeli Bai study
of western lowland gorillas being conducted in
the remote region of the Nouabale-Ndoki National
Park in Africa's northern Congo. Coordinated by
the Wildlife Conservation Society and supervised
by project director Michael Fay, the study's focus
on the rarely seen ecology and social behavior
of the lowland gorilla is resulting in ground-breaking
data on this fascinating and endangered species.
Studying
the lowland gorilla in its natural surroundings
is helping provide insights into developing more
effective conservation strategies for preserving
both the species and its environment. Acquiring
such elusive data will also contribute to designing
high-quality zoological environments like Busch
Gardens' award-winning Myombe Reserve: The Great
Ape Domain.
As
the project enters its third year, data collection
is being extended to identify more specific social
behaviors of lowland gorillas - both groups and
individuals - and their interaction with their
environment. Research includes social behaviors,
non vocal and gesture-based communication, range
patterns as they relate to food sources and DNA
"fingerprinting" which provides genetic
descriptions of the Mbeli population.
To
maximize their exposure to the remote conditions
seen in Mbeli, researchers also are studying ecological
behaviors of other species in the region when
lowland gorillas are not present such as elephants,
Congo clawless otters and black and white Colobus
monkeys.
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| |
|
|
| Dixson,
A. F. 1981. The Natural History of the Gorilla.
Columbia Univ. Press, New York. |
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| Estes,
D. 1992. Behavior guide to African mammals.
Univ. Of California Press, Berkley. |
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|
Fossey,
Dian. 1983. Gorillas in the Mist. Houghton
Mifflin Co., Boston.
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| Hoff,
Michael P., and Terry L. Maple. 1982. Gorilla
Behavior. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New Jersey. |
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| Tuttle,
Russell, H. 1986. Apes of the World. Noyes
Publication, New Jersey. |
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| Bushmeat
Crisis Task Force. www.bushmeat.org |
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| Dian
Fossey Gorilla Fund. www.deathstar.rutgers.edu/projects/gorilla/gorilla.html |
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| Great
Ape Project. www.envirolink.org/arrs/gap/gaphome.html |
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| International
Primate Protection League. www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/ippl.html |
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