Gorilla - 26 Interesting facts

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1. Gorillas are primates – just like monkeys and us (humans). While it is like to confuse classify them with monkeys, the main distinguishing difference is the absence of a tail. They are also great apes, like humans and chimpanzees because of their intelligence and have developed brains.

2. After chimps and bonobos, gorillas are the next animal to humans in terms of their genetic makeup. They can laugh, express sadness as well as other emotions. We share about 97% of our DNA makeup with gorillas. This means that humans and gorillas are different by a mere 3%.

3. They have unique fingerprints, like humans. Given how closely related we are; this shouldn’t come as a shocking revelation. With the many technologies that are utilizing fingerprint reading, this couldn’t be more puzzling and worthwhile.

4. Gorillas can learn a language, use basic tools and even make some tools. With enough guided human interaction, gorillas (both in the wild and in zoos) have shown improved language skills in both sign language and spoken language. Gorillas can learn up to 2000 words

5. The biggest gorillas (Eastern lowland) can weight up to 250 Kg (550 pounds). With the average human weight ranging from 65 Kilograms to 70 Kilograms, the Eastern lowland gorillas weigh more than 3 people put together.

6. Their arms are longer than their legs. This is why they usually walk on all fours. They walk on the knuckles of their hands – which is appropriately called knuckle-walking. Gorillas can also walk with only their legs (as humans do) but knuckle-walking gives them more balance to climb trees and steep hills.

7. The average gorilla is approximately 6 times stronger than an average human. Well, they work out every day and we (mostly) don’t. If you really want to dig deep into how humans and gorillas compare, just google and the overwhelming discussions that have happened will draw you in. Or just start with this Quora question.

8. Gorillas live for 35 – 40 years in the wild. And averagely 50 in captivity (zoo). Humans are now able to live much longer, gorillas are still living as long as we were living before modern medicine and mechanization of work.

9. Gorilla families are called troops. Gorillas usually stay in groups of around 10 individuals, with one silverback as the leader. Gorilla groups can be smaller or larger than this average, but they cannot have more than one silverback.

10. Troops are dominated by Silverbacks. The silverback heads the gorilla family /troop. With the death of a silverback, the females look for another family to join. This is among other things ensures their safety and protection.

11. Male gorillas are cast out of the family once they are old enough to mate (10 years). This is because the silverback has exclusive rights to all the female gorillas. The male then goes off to find its own female or female to start a family of its own.

12. They take 8.5 months to have babies. That is two weeks less than the gestation period of humans. Why that gap of 2 weeks exists, we have no idea. We like to think scientists will find out and tell us.

13. Gorillas are primarily herbivores. They eat bamboo, roots, small branches, fruits, and tree pulp. They are not complete vegetarians though, they also eat ants and insects on occasion. The fruit and vegetable diet keeps them healthy from some of our ‘modern’ ailments. Here is our detailed article about what gorillas like to eat

14. An adult gorilla eats about 40 pounds of vegetation (10% of its body weight). Averagely, a human eats 4 pounds every day, meaning that a single grown gorilla eats as much as ten people in a day. This means that 5 gorillas will eat 73000 pounds (about 33 tons) of food in one year.

15. They mostly feed during the morning and evening. Gorillas will feed in the morning and then nap during the day as the infants play and snack around until the evening when they all eat some more.

16. Gorillas can catch human diseases. Gorillas will catch and suffer from most human illnesses. This is why coughing or sneezing is prohibited during a gorilla trekking trip. If it can’t be avoided, one is usually asked to cover up and face away from the gorillas.

17. Gorillas have a bite force of around 1,300 PSI (Per Square Inch). This is considerably more than that of a lion or tiger at around 1,000 PSI. In comparison, humans range from 150 to 200 PSI; meaning that a gorilla’s bite force is more than that of 6 humans put together. Given that gorillas are mostly herbivorous and very gentle; this strong bite force comes as a surprise.

18. Their longer and thicker body hair help them stay in cold high altitude places. Living in tropical climates which are wet much of the year, gorillas are able to stay warm due to the hair covering their bodies. This is even more vital for the mountain gorillas that stay in high altitude places of around 2,320 meters above sea level.

19. Mountain gorillas are only found in Rwanda, DRC, and Uganda. This is in either Virunga (shared by Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda) or Bwindi in Uganda. This gorilla subspecies is among the most endangered of animals with numbers of just around 1000. Previous numbers have been recorded much lower and their population has risen in recent years. Check out this article on where mountain gorilla live and their habitat

20. Baby Gorillas are called infants and nurse until they are about 3 years old. By their third year, these infants are able to walk and feed on their own – without the mother’s help.

21. Gorillas usually produce one baby at a time, but will rarely give birth to twins. Female gorillas produce an average of 3 babies in their lifetime.

22. There are two species of gorillas and 2 subspecies in each of the species. The Western lowland gorilla and the Cross River gorilla are part of the Western gorilla species. The Eastern Lowland gorilla and the Mountain gorilla are subspecies of the Eastern gorilla found in Bwindi and Virunga.

23. Their eye color is dark brown, framed by a dark ring around the iris. Gorillas are said to have a singular eye color of dark brown, unlike humans who have many eye colors. Some domestic animals also have more than one eyes color, but this is rare in wild animals.

24. Silverbacks are in charge of ensuring the troop’s safety. Every troop is headed by a silverback which is in charge of leading the whole troop to different places for food. More importantly, the silverback’s role is in protecting the members of his troop even if he has to die to do it.

25. Gorillas are nomadic and build their sleeping nests every day from branches and grass. Gorillas don’t stay in one place for prolonged periods of time. They are always on the move for food every morning. At the end of the day, they build sleeping nests with either tree branches or leaves where they sleep and move on the next day – abandoning the nests altogether.

26. A mature male’s hair turns grey; starting with the back- hence the name silverback. After a young male gorilla (black back) matures, the hair on its back starts to turn grey/silver. This is around the age of 10 – 12 years.

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