Mountain Gorilla Lifespan – Mountain gorillas are family-oriented animals that live in groups called troops or families.
These groups are led by a dominant silverback. The silverback oversees the group’s activities, protects them from attacks, and is responsible for reproduction.
A gorilla family consists of 5 to 40 individuals.
A gorilla family includes:
- A silverback
- Mature females
- Blackbacks
- Infants
- Juveniles
Gorillas are vegetarians. They feed on leaves, bamboo, fruits, and sometimes insects. They are strong, gentle, and friendly giants with broad chests, strong arms, and tiny eyes.
Gorillas share 98.3% of their DNA with humans, making them our close cousins. This is why they have similar traits to humans.
Gorilla family members stay close to each other and communicate through vocal and non-vocal means, such as belching, grunting, chest beating, clapping, and more.
Gorillas also show emotions like humans. They laugh, cry, and play during their free time.
Gorillas are very strong animals. It may take the strength of about 5 or more men to defeat a single gorilla.
Gorillas live in the tropical rainforests of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lifespan of Gorillas
On average, gorillas live between 35 and 60 years. They have very slow breeding rates, with a mature female giving birth only once every four years.
Female gorillas start reproducing at 10 years old. Their gestation period is about 9 months, similar to humans.
Mountain gorillas in captivity have a shorter lifespan, living between 30 and 35 years.
It is worth noting that an adult male gorilla is twice as strong as an adult female and ten times stronger than a human.
The oldest living gorilla is a female named Fatou, who is 67 years and 342 days old.
Over the years, mountain gorillas have been declared an endangered species due to harmful human activities like poaching, deforestation, and bush hunting. These activities sometimes kill gorillas and shorten their lives.
This has led to worldwide conservation efforts to protect gorillas from extinction. Thanks to these efforts, their lifespan has improved.
If gorilla habitats are protected and conservation efforts continue, their lifespan can improve and increase greatly.
