FIND OUT ABOUT MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

The King of the Apes

Gorillas are shy , gentle , peaceful animals and they are very strong. They live in groups 10 - 30 and there is only one older Male in the group - the 'Silverback', who is at least 12 years old.

Female gorillas can have their first baby when they are 10 years old. They can have two to six infants in their life time.

A baby gorilla is called an 'infant'.

Their habitat is in rainforests between 9,000 and 12,000 feet above sea-level.

Gorilla's can live up to 35 years. A male gorillas height is 1.8 m standing upright and weighs anything from 140 to 275 kg, whereas a female can be

1.5 m tall and weigh between 70 to 140 kg.

WHY DO MOUNTAIN GORILLAS NEED OUR HELP

Mountain gorillas need our help because humans have made gorillas become endangered. We have killed them by poaching, through civil war and by destroying their habitat and without the gorillas eating the vast amounts of vegetation, the food chain will change and other animals, including humans will be affected.

WHAT DO MOUNTAIN GORILLAS EAT

Mountain gorilla's mainly eat vegetables sticking to stems, leaves, bamboo shoots, fruits, pith, moths, roots and grubs and sometimes supplement their diet with termites, ants, and insects. Mountain gorillas can break termite nests to eat larva.

WHERE DO THEY LIVE

The home of the gorillas

Mountain gorillas live in Africa, in the Bwindi Impenetrable National park in Uganda and three national park in the Virungas mountain region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda.