INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GORILLAS
Interesting Facts About Gorillas : Gorilla trekking in Africa has increased in popularity over the years because of the fact that there are a number of interesting gorilla species that tourists will find interesting when you spend one hour with them as you participate in the activity, you will get to understand five interesting facts about the gorillas IN Africa for an amazing experience. Among the most memorable gorilla destinations in Africa where you will visit a number of habituated gorilla families understanding the different types of gorillas in Africa include; Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park for tourists interested in participating in gorilla trekking in Uganda, you can also take part in gorilla trekking in volcanoes national park and gorilla trekking in Virunga national park where you will understand more about the endangered mountain gorillas and as you participate in gorilla trekking in kahuzi biega national park, you will also understand more about the eastern lowland gorillas that are quite different from the mountain gorillas and the cross river gorillas. As you access the different national parks in Africa to participate in gorilla trekking, you will get to learn about the five interesting facts about gorillas for a rewarding experience.
DIET
A gorilla diet comprises of foliage because of the fact that they are herbivores, their diet comprises of bamboo shoots, celery, a number of edible leaves and in situations where fruit is readily available, it takes on the biggest percentage of the food it consumes daily. It should be noted that although they depend mainly on foliage, they can also be seen eating a number of invertebrates like centipedes, termites, snails and many others. It is also noted that the gorillas can eat up to 18 kilograms of food daily and also walk up to 500 metres in search of food.
GESTATION PERIOD
The gestation period of a pregnant gorilla females is 8.5 months and interesting about the time it conceives are the different tactics that they carry out in order to win over the dominant male. It should be noted that the dominant male is the only male that can mate with the females in the group and in order to win over the attention of the male, the females will carry out different tactics like biting their lips, they can be seen flirting with him during ovulation and when the dominant male is impressed he will mate with her. Because of this, females in the group tend to be aggressive towards one another because producing provides first priority and guaranteed security for the infants and the adult females before any other members of the gorilla family in case of any security threat.
DOMINANCE
When it comes to the dominance in the different gorilla family, the adult male, a silverback is the top head of every gorilla family and has all the mating rights with all the adult females of the group. Interesting about the leadership and control of power in gorilla families is the fact that for any of the silverbacks in the groups to become the dominant silverbacks, they should first challenge the dominant silverback to a fight who will then accept the challenge and the winner becomes the head of the family and the loser is forced to leave the family with a group of females to help him start his own family.
HEIGHT
The gorillas are such well- built primate species with broad shoulders and long arms that can stand at a height of 6.6 which is the average height for gorillas but they can also stand at a height of 7 feet which is quite tall compared to the average height of human being 5.4 making them quite tall compared to the different primate species. The height of the gorillas can be seen very well as they can be seen walking on their two feet in instances where they have their hands full of food and in situations where they want to see ahead.
STRENGTH
Gorilla strength is partly as a result of their diet which comprises of a number of edible foliage and it should be noted the gorillas can eat about 18 kilograms of food daily which help to build their body mass and strength. As compared to humans, gorillas are ten times stronger that a fully grown human and compared to the chimpanzees, the gorillas are 4 to 6 times stronger than the chimpanzees, gorillas are four to six times stronger than a chimpanzee. The weight of a fully grown gorilla male is 136-227 and female is 68-113 kilograms whereas chimpanzees, the average female can weigh up to 27-50 kilograms and an adult male 40- 70 kilograms making them quite heavy and stronger than other primate species.
