Why do silverback gorillas fight
Silverback gorillas are adult male members of a group. They mature at the age of 14 years old into great apes with a swathe of silver hair on their backs.
Each silverback weighs about 430 pounds that is roughly 195kg and has a height of 5 feet that us 1.5 m .
They are extremely very strong and are able to lift over 1763 pounds (800kg) dead weight .
Typically , a silverback is usually the head of a group or family.
A gorilla family comprises of a dominant silverback that is the head , black backs , adult females , juvenile females, babies and sometimes other submissive silverbacks
In cases where there is more than a silverback and there’s no submission, conflicts are expected to rise any time within the group .
This is due to the following
The need by a dominant silverback to protect it’s family from attack by another silverback leads to a fight between the two silverbacks.
In case another silverback is trying to break away from the main group with other gorilla family members , the dominant silverback will be forced to fight back in order to get back his family members .
Silverbacks will fight in case another silverback other than the dominant silverback is seen mating with the females in the group . This is because mating is only a luxury of the dominant silverback and so he’ll fight for his rights
Silverbacks fight Incase of a predator trying to attack the group .
Silverbacks fight in case another silverback is trying to challenge the dominant silverback and take over the group . This is because the dominant silverback is forced to fight in order to defend his position as the head .
Silverbacks fight in case the dominant silverback in the group is dead . This is due to a leadership gap that is created and therefore the stronger and more suitable leader is seen through wining the fight . It is worth noting that the winner is deamed the new leader due to his display of strength and capability .
Silverbacks also fight in case there is invasion of territories. Two gorilla families can not coexist within the same territory and therefore they have to fight to see which group can leave the other.
By and large . Silverbacks fight due to different reasons that are reasonable enough as noted above .
