Gorilla skull. Gorilla is the largest ape on earth
Gorilla is largest representative monkey family. Strong, with a massive constitution and huge fangs - they look very dangerous. But this is only an appearance - in fact, these are very gentle animals.
Gorillas are the largest primates alive today
There are two species of gorillas: lowland gorillas, which live in the lowland rainforests of Gabon, Cameroon and Congo, and mountain gorillas, which live only in a small area in central Africa, in the Virunga Mountains.
Gorillas communicate with each other not only by voice, but also by facial expressions
They are social animals and being in a group comes naturally to them. Gorillas are holding most of your meal time. Since they are vegetarians, they eat mainly leaves, young shoots, and sometimes fruits.
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The gorilla's day usually begins with short walks near the nest, during which he eats leaves and grass. Lunch is a time for rest, when the monkeys wander around the forest or just sleep. In the afternoon, nest construction begins. The leader of the group, usually the strongest male, chooses a place to rest. When the leader gives the signal, all members of the flock begin to build a nest.
Listen to the voice of a gorilla
In case of danger, the gorilla can stand up and beat its chest with its fists. This should alert the attacker.
Gorillas, unfortunately, are an endangered species. Poachers hunt them mainly for their fur and skull.
Did you know that the gorilla:
- is the largest representative of monkeys;
- can lift 980 kg;
- V wildlife only about 300 mountain gorillas remain;
- adult males have silver-colored fur on their back;
- arm span exceeds 2.5 m;
- females and young can climb the tree, while males, due to their size, usually remain on the ground;
- in captivity they live up to 50 years.
Gorilla sizes:
- height: males - 1.65-2.0 m, females - 1.4 m;
- weight: males - 160 - 225 kg (in captivity up to 270 kg), females 60-100 kg;
- life expectancy: 30-40 years (in captivity - up to 50 years, record 54 years).
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It is known that the largest apes on Earth are gorillas. Their full height Sometimes it reaches up to two meters, and the weight of such a giant is approximately 270 kilograms.
Despite huge size and ferocious appearance, gorillas stand out friendly character. They live in the tropics of Central Africa and prefer only plant foods. Since their size does not allow them to often walk through fragile trees, gorillas mainly feed on the ground. They eat a lot of food. Powerful jaws allow them to eat, in addition to leaves, stems, wood and roots.
Gorillas live in groups of anywhere from five to thirty individuals. Traditionally, a group has a leader, one or two young males, several females and cubs. Since they are one of the most powerful inhabitants tropical forests, they don’t have many enemies. Their food grows all around them, so they don't have to look for it. They eat during the first half of the day. After this, they walk through the tropical thickets and relax. During rest, most of the monkeys sleep, children play, and the rest take each other's hair out. different insects. After noon, they move through the jungle until dark, eating food along the way. As night approaches, the leader is the first to build a nest, because of his heavy weight, he builds it on the ground. It is made up of folded branches and inwardly curved grass stems. The remaining members of the group climb trees and make nests there. When it gets completely dark, the whole group goes to bed.
And gorillas only live about 40 to 50 years.
Video: Male gorilla Abram living in the zoo. County of Kent learned to walk on two legs like a man.
Another video about Abram, here you can better see how he walks.
Kumbuka at Peyton Zoo (Devonshire) also decided to keep up with her brother and began throwing stones at photographers.
Childless french couple adopted a gorilla:
Gorillas study humans. This happened in Ugad. Wild mountain gorillas descended into national park and found tourists. Dad decided to show the kids people :) The tourists behaved very correctly, did not make sudden movements, did not look the animals in the eyes, and spoke quietly.
Angelica Todd observes the lives of a family of lowland gorillas. Film: My Life with Gorillas (2012).
Mountain Gorillas (2010, Film One)
Mountain Gorillas (2010, Film Three)
Secrets of the Gorillas (2009).
Gorillas: beautiful photos and pictures.
Ecology
Basics:
Gorillas mainly eat plant foods. The male reaches a height of about 1.8 meters and can weigh 220 kilograms depending on the subspecies, females are slightly smaller - a maximum of 1.5 meters in height and weigh up to 98 kilograms. Gorillas live from 35 to 50 years.
Like humans, gorillas have 10 fingers and 10 toes, as well as 32 teeth. Gorillas have a distinctive body shape, and their belly is wider than their chest. This is due to the fact that they have a large digestive system which is necessary for digestion large quantity fibrous plant foods.
Because the food that gorillas eat is poor useful substances, they have to eat about 18 kilograms of food daily. In order to obtain food for themselves, gorillas have evolved strong muscles on the hands: they are 6 times stronger than a person.
Although gorillas can walk on their hind legs, they usually prefer to walk on all fours. They don't have any obvious language, but they can make 22 different sounds that they use to communicate with each other.
Gorillas spend almost a third of their day feeding, another third searching for food and playing, and the rest of the time they sleep or rest.
Gorillas live in small groups, known as packs. A typical gorilla troop includes one dominant male, one immature male, 3-4 adult females, and 3-6 young under 8 years of age. Although gorillas generally communicate quite peacefully, sometimes conflicts can arise within the pack.
A female gorilla can give birth starting at the age of 8 years. She must leave her native pack and find a new one, or join a lonely male with whom she will live next to.
The enemies of gorillas in the wild are leopards and crocodiles.
Where do they live?
Gorillas live in tropical forests Africa. The western lowland gorilla lives in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. The eastern lowland gorilla lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The mountain gorilla can be found in the Virunga Mountains, high latitude rainforests in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic Congo.
Conservation status: Endangered
The western river gorilla is the rarest big monkey On the planet, there are about 300 individuals left in the wild. Among gorillas, the most numerous is the western lowland gorilla, according to Smithsonian National Zoo , there are about 175 thousand individuals in the wild.
Eight African countries approved laws that protect gorillas. The main problem for these animals is deforestation and habitat fragmentation, poaching, civil wars and constant anxiety, as well as diseases that are transmitted from humans.
Gorillas are the most large primates on the planet.
Gorilla DNA is 98 percent identical to human DNA, making gorillas one of the closest relatives modern man, which also include baboons and chimpanzees.
Newborn gorillas grow very quickly and are able to move independently at the age of 6 months. By 18 months, they can already follow their mother on short walks.
The genus of monkeys called gorillas includes the largest living representatives of primates. The western gorilla was first described by scientists in the mid-19th century.
The height of an adult male gorilla is between 1.65-1.75 m. Sometimes there are individuals up to 2 m tall, but no more. The shoulder width of the male is approximately 1 m. Average weight male about 150 kg. Females are usually twice as large. The physique is massive, with highly developed muscles. The gorilla's strength is truly enormous. Wool dark color, with a silver stripe on the back in adult males, a prominent eyebrow. The forelimbs are longer than the hind limbs. The feet are powerful, the hands are very strong. Gorillas are able to walk on their hind legs, but more often move on all fours. When walking, they do not rely on the palm of their hand and the pads of their front paws, like other primates, but on the outer side of their fingers, gathered into a fist. At the same time, on inside brushes preserves thin sensitive skin. Head big size, forehead is low, jaw protrudes forward.
Gorilla nutritional features
Mostly gorillas eat plant foods. Their diet includes plants such as wild celery, bedstraw, nettle, and bamboo. In addition, they willingly eat a variety of nuts and fruits, but they practically do not consume food of animal origin (for example, insects). If a young animal falls into captivity, it quickly gets used to any human food.
Gorillas also need mineral supplements: for example, individual species clays compensate for the lack of salts in their food. Gorillas practically do not drink, as they get all the necessary moisture from the succulent parts of plants. They try to avoid ponds and water, and they really don’t like rain at all.
Gorilla distribution
Gorillas are inhabitants equatorial forests west and center of Africa, separate groups live on the slopes of the volcanic Virunga Mountains, which are covered with forests.
Common Gorilla Species
According to modern classification The gorilla genus includes two species with subspecies:
- Genus Western gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla)
- Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
The subspecies lives in mountain forests Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. She is often kept in zoos. Differs in smaller size compared to its relatives. The height of males at the shoulders is about 2 m, weight reaches 140 kg. Females are up to 1.5 m in height, their weight is up to 70 kg.
The population size of this subspecies in the territory Equatorial Africa is 150,000 – 200,000 individuals. The species is considered vulnerable as it is adversely affected by deforestation and poaching.
2. Western river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)
The habitat of this subspecies lies between Cameroon and Nigeria, where animals are found in tropical and subtropical deciduous forests. It is the most vulnerable of all gorilla subspecies. It differs from its lowland relative in the structure and size of the skull and teeth.
The population size is estimated at only 280 individuals; a special national park was created in Cameroon to preserve this subspecies.
- Genus Eastern gorilla(Gorilla beringei)
Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
It is on the verge of extinction. Habitat is limited to Central Africa (Great rift valley). Mountain gorillas live on the slopes extinct volcanoes, at altitudes of 2200-4300 m above sea level. In size, representatives of this subspecies are second only to the eastern lowland gorilla. The average weight of males reaches 195 kg, height is about 150 cm. Females weigh up to 100 kg with a height of 130 cm.
Male and female gorilla: main differences
The main feature and manifestation of sexual dimorphism in gorillas is that females are half the weight and height of males. In addition, a silver stripe can be seen on the dark backs of males.
Gorilla behavior
Gorillas live in small groups, which include a leader male, several females and their offspring ( total number families of 5-30 individuals). These animals are very calm and peaceful, and spend most of their time searching for food. When a leader male and a single male who wants to take away his harem from the first meet, they do not even fight, but simply demonstrate their strength to each other. Gorillas do not attack other species of animals, but they can defend themselves from attacks.
During the first part of the day, gorillas are usually busy searching for food. Then they can leisurely walk through the forests. When it gets very hot, animal activity decreases noticeably. They rest either lying on the ground or in nests specially built for this purpose. During such a “siesta,” group members search or clean each other’s skin, but do not do this very actively.
After dark, all gorilla activity stops and the group goes to bed. For this purpose, males build “nests” from branches, and females and young animals climb trees.
The group of gorillas is usually led by the oldest and strongest male; he determines the daily routine, searches for food and chooses a place to spend the night. He asserts his authority by performing a terrifying “dance”, but this is just an indicative threat: even a furious male almost never attacks. Thus, attacks on people are described extremely rarely and consisted of no more than one bite. The male’s “dance” begins with a quiet hoot, which turns into heart-rending screams. Then he rises to his feet and, hunching his shoulders, beats his chest with his fists. Then the male straightens up, takes a running start, and, dropping on all fours, runs with a crash through the bushes, destroying everything in his path. At the end he hits the ground with his palms. In gorilla groups, quarrels are more common among females. When attacking animals, males protect everyone, but they rarely attack their enemies, preferring to simply demonstrate their strength without using it. If the attacker runs away, the gorilla can catch up with him and bite him. Residents of African tribes considered gorilla bites the most shameful of wounds, since they indicated that a person was running away from danger, which means he was cowardly.
Gorilla breeding
Female gorillas reach sexual maturity at the age of 10-12 years, males at 11-13 years (usually earlier in captivity). Females are always loving and caring mothers, and males are attentive fathers. The duration of pregnancy, which occurs once every 3-5 years, is 8.5 months. One baby is born weighing about 2 kg, which is completely dependent on the mother, she feeds it, carries it, protects it and emotionally supports it until the age of 3 years. After which the young gorilla begins an independent lifestyle. The life expectancy of gorillas is significant and ranges from 30 to 50 years.
Natural enemies of gorilla
Gorillas live well in captivity and reproduce. But the total population size is small and is steadily decreasing, which is associated with the destruction of their natural places habitat (deforestation), as well as poaching of these animals for the purpose of obtaining meat.
- Until the 19th century and the first scientific description This animal, information about gorillas was so heterogeneous that the species was considered a mythical creature.
- More is known about gorillas than about other primates. This is due to the fact that they live on the ground, and not in trees, and are more accessible to observation. All reliable data about this species was obtained thanks to the work of scientists from the USA: George Schaller, who spent two years in the jungles of Africa, and Dian Fossey, who lived among wild gorillas for 13 years. At the same time, the animals trusted the woman so much that they communicated with her completely calmly, even allowing the cubs in.
- At least 16 different types have been identified in gorillas. sound signals which they use to communicate with each other.
- At Stanford University, as part of the “Coco Project,” a female gorilla was taught words in the language of the deaf and dumb. After this, the animal was able to communicate quite adequately with the person.
- When European hunters saw a gorilla running towards them, they immediately shot it and told stories about terrible beast who attacks a person with the intent to kill. This is why the “gorilla monster” appears so often in works fiction and cinema. Such ideas were widespread until the beginning of the 20th century. But although male gorillas are not aggressive, their strength should not be neglected. After all, even strong and agile leopards never engage in battle with them. The arms of a male gorilla contain enormous power (about 8 times more than those of a human), and the fangs reach 5 cm in length and can cause serious injuries.
Gorillas are the largest apes and primates in general. Along with chimpanzees and orangutans, they are the closest to humans. The genus of gorillas includes two species - the eastern and western gorillas, which are very similar to each other.
Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).
The appearance of these animals inspires respect and even fear. Indeed, the height of gorillas can reach up to 1.8 m, and their weight can reach even more - up to 140-200 kg! Compared to a man of the same height, a gorilla looks much more impressive. The body of these animals is more square than elongated, the limbs are long and muscular at the same time, the palms and feet are wide. As a rule, all gorillas have a large belly due to the large amount of gases in their intestines, and their backs are wide, sometimes slightly sagging. The jaws of these monkeys are powerful and protrude strongly forward. Gorillas are characterized by wide nostrils and close-set eyes. The color of the skin and fur of these animals is black; the cubs may have a brownish tint to their fur. In older male gorillas, the fur on the back becomes gray; this color indicates the animal's sexual maturity. In addition, males have a more powerful nape, emphasized by protruding hair on the top. However, these are the only characteristics that distinguish males from females - sexual dimorphism in this species of monkeys is weakly expressed. Gorilla fur is long and thick. At first glance, such fur disturbs animals in warm climates, but in fact, in the habitats of gorillas, the temperature at night can drop to +16 ° C and the fur helps them warm up.
A baby gorilla learns to beat its chest as a show of strength. His parents are watching his lesson (the male is on the left).
Both species of gorillas are found exclusively in Western and Central Africa. They inhabit wet equatorial forests on the plains and mountain slopes. Gorillas live in groups of 7-15 individuals. Each family consists of one adult male and several females with cubs and juveniles. Gorillas are sedentary animals; each family occupies a large area, which it walks around every few weeks. Like all apes, gorillas are active during the day, but at night they sleep in primitive nests made of branches that are not reused.
Because of huge weight gorillas rarely climb trees, only small cubs like to climb vines or lower branches of trees when playing.
Animals spend most of their time searching for food, methodically walking around the territory in search of thickets of their favorite plants. Gorillas move on four limbs, using permanent paths. When walking, they rest on the ground with their backs outside half-bent palm. This method of movement is characteristic of all apes.
Despite their impressive appearance, gorillas have a very calm character. Usually animals chew their food phlegmatically, watching other members of the herd out of the corner of their eyes. The cubs behave more animatedly, play a lot, but their games are not noisy. The authority of the male in the family is unshakable, so if misunderstandings arise in the herd, it is often between the females. Having quarreled, they start screaming and even bite each other. But the leader does not tolerate such squabbles for long; with an instant throw he gives the grumpy wives a couple of blows and order reigns in the herd.
Real fights arise between males only if the young one claims the family of the old one, but even in this case they prefer to limit themselves to demonstrating a threat rather than using it. The fact is that gorillas have enormous muscular strength and during a fight they can cause severe injuries to each other, so the males organize “image” competitions. At the same time they rise to hind legs, beat their chests with their fists and scream loudly.
Gorillas are absolute vegetarians; they feed exclusively on plants, preferring leaves and stems. Fruits make up a smaller share of their diet. Due to such a low-calorie diet, these animals are forced to spend 40-60% of their daytime feeding. These monkeys rarely drink, as they get the necessary moisture from their food. Like orangutans, gorillas do not like water and try to hide under the dense canopy of trees when it rains.
Gorilla while feeding.
Gorillas breed all year round. Females mate only with the leader of the herd; the remaining males must first win leadership to continue the race. Pregnancy lasts 8.5 months.
A female gorilla gives birth to one, or less often, two cubs and shows touching care for them.
At first, the baby clings to the mother's fur, and she presses him to her chest; the grown baby climbs onto her back and the female carries him everywhere.
Despite the apparent inconvenience, babies, like this baby western lowland gorilla, feel completely at ease on their mothers' backs.
Grown-up cubs move independently, but accompany their mother for a long time (up to 5 years). Even after the young are completely separated, they go through a period of adolescence and gorillas finally become adults only at 10-12 years of age. Gorillas live 30-35 years in the wild; in captivity, life expectancy can reach 50-55 years.
baby gorilla younger age on his mother's stomach.
IN natural environment these monkeys have no enemies: their large size, strength and collective support make them invulnerable to other animals. In turn, gorillas do not show aggression towards their neighbors: they graze together with ungulates on forest glades, do not pay attention to smaller monkeys. Their only enemy is man, or rather, some poachers. Local residents initially did not hunt gorillas, but as they learned about gorillas civilized world, they became valuable exhibits of zoological collections. In this regard, a unique trade arose: adult gorillas are killed to cut off their paws, which are a kind of fashionable souvenir for the rich. The surviving cubs are resold to private zoos. A separate problem is represented by human infections that affect gorillas. Previously among local residents Diseases such as influenza, for example, were unknown; now tourists are carriers of viruses. Gorillas, who are not immune to influenza, are very susceptible to the disease in the wild and often die. On top of all the problems, these animals suffer from constant habitat loss. Continuous deforestation and civil wars in the gorillas' habitat have left them in a critical situation.
This baby gorilla was rescued from the hands of animal traffickers in the Congo. While the orphan is getting used to his new home, workers rehabilitation center wear masks so as not to infect the baby with human infections.
In captivity, these animals are quite well tamed if they are raised by humans from childhood. But handling gorillas requires understanding their psychology - they don't circus performers and are not intended for learning tricks. With calm and respectful attitude Gorillas easily find mutual understanding with humans. A western lowland gorilla named Koko became the first animal to master human speech. True, due to the structural features of the vocal apparatus, the monkey cannot reproduce human sounds, but words are replaced by gestures. Over the 40 years of her life, Coco learned by ear about 2000 English words and mastered about 1000 sign words in the language of the deaf and dumb. With their help, she not only informs her caretakers about her immediate needs, but also expresses abstract concepts, complex feelings, and even jokes.
Throughout her life, Koko repeatedly told her guardians about her desire to have a cub. To alleviate her loneliness, she was allowed to adopt a kitten. After the accidental death of the first baby, Coco cried, in the photo is the second of her charges.