Characteristics of Mountain Gorillas – Mountain gorillas are friendly giants with 98.3% DNA similarity to humans. They live in three countries worldwide: Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.
In Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, they inhabit the Virunga ranges, while in Uganda, they are found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Forest.
They are generally stocky animals with broad chests, large hands, and small eyes set in their fearless faces. Mountain gorillas live in groups called families, which are led by a dominant silverback.
The silverback protects the family, mates with females, and decides feeding and sleeping times.
Characteristics of Mountain Gorillas
Below are some characteristics of mountain gorillas:
- Mountain gorillas live in tropical forests, where bamboo trees are one of their favorite foods.
- They are the largest primates in the world, making them the giants of all primates.
- An adult mountain gorilla has 32 teeth, just like humans.
- Mountain gorillas have a unique nose print, which makes them easy to identify. The nose print consists of wrinkles around the nose.
- Unlike monkeys, mountain gorillas do not have tails.
- Mountain gorillas have larger muscles in their arms than in their legs. This is because they use their arms for gathering food and felling trees, which requires more strength in their hands and arms. They walk on four limbs.
- The arms of mountain gorillas are longer than their legs. A mountain gorilla’s arm span is about 30 cm longer than that of humans.
- Mountain gorillas live in groups or families, also called troops, which are led by a dominant silverback, the strongest member of the group.
- Their stomachs are larger than their chests because their intestines process the bulky vegetables they consume daily.
- The upper body of a mountain gorilla is six times stronger than that of humans.
- Mountain gorillas are herbivores, feeding on vegetation, fruits, and sometimes including insects in their diet.
- The average lifespan of a mountain gorilla is 35 to 50 years.
Mountain gorillas are great apes with unique and easily identifiable characteristics.
