Filming The Batwa Experience in Uganda
May 24, 2022
Guide For First Time Travelers
January 23, 2023
Gorillas are among the most amazing primates on planet earth! Below are the eight amazing facts About Gorillas:
- The majority of Gorillas stay in the wild – and their life expectancy reaches 40 years and above. Most popular wild gorilla destinations include; Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park, and Kahuzi -Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo among others.
- Gorillas are highly endangered apes – they are susceptible to poaching. Illegal hunters set traps in the forest to capture other animals but gorillas also fall victim.
- Gorillas are the biggest of the great apes and a male gorilla is bigger than a female one. A male gorilla can weigh between 193Kg -200Kg while a female between 140Kg -160Kg.
- Gorillas spend most of the daytime feeding and mostly on vegetation. Gorillas feed on vegetation shoots, stems, roots, and fruits however, lowland gorillas also have an appetite for termites and ants and break open termite nests to eat the larvae.
- Gorillas Form Families which are mostly led by a mature dominant male. Just like human families, gorilla groups also consist of young gorillas, Juvenile gorillas, and mature gorilla members. The dominant silver Back plays defense for the entire gorilla family.
- Gorillas share 98% of human DNA. Initial comparisons confirm that chimpanzees are our closest relatives, sharing 99% of our DNA. Gorillas come a close second with 98%, and orangutans third with a 97% share.
- Gorillas are highly intelligent – A few individual gorillas in captivity like Koko, have been taught a subset of sign language. Like the other great apes, gorillas can laugh, grieve, have “rich emotional lives”, develop strong family bonds, make and use tools, and think about the past and future.
- Mountain Gorilla species live in two isolated places; Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Virunga crescent covering Mgahinga National Park, Virunga National Park in DRC, and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Mountain gorillas are highly endangered and so, strict rules and regulations are set to preserve and conserve gorillas and their natural environment.
