Just after bonobos and chimpanzees, gorillas are the third human-like species and the closest relatives to humans with whom they share about 98% of their genetic code. Just like humans, gorillas are charming, get annoyed and can sometimes laugh or express joy and mood swings.

They are the largest great apes and move with their four legs even though sometimes they tend to stand tall especially when feeding. Silverbacks are the dominant male gorillas and are considered the leaders though much heavier than female gorillas at about 220 kilograms. They are characterized by thick heavy muscular arms and chests like that of human with their visible large nostrils. Gorillas are vegetarian and mainly feed on bamboo shoots, leaves, fruits and stems.

There are two subspecies of gorillas including the Eastern gorillas and western gorillas. Western gorillas are divided into two subspecies including western lowland gorillas and cross-river gorillas. The Eastern gorillas are also made up of two gorilla sub-species including the mountain gorillas and the eastern lowland gorillas. Among all, the western gorillas are the most common ones and can be visibly distinguished by their nose type.

Mountain gorillas can only be found in the Virunga ranges that span three countries and are the only home for these one of the two subspecies of Eastern gorillas. These countries include Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. According to the World Gorilla Census in 2018, only a thousand mountain gorillas remain in the wild and survive on mountain slopes and in deep forests. 

The Eastern land gorillas are quite bigger than the mountain gorillas, the largest of all and can only be found in the eastern part of Congo in Kahuzi Biega National Park and Maiko National Park. They are characterized by their visibly large hands, short muzzle and huge body. There are about 7000 eastern lowland gorillas remaining in the wild. The western lowland gorillas are the most common ones though small in size and their exact number can be hard to estimate about 350,000 of them remain in the wild while the cross-river gorillas survive in the forests and mountains of Nigeria and Cameroon while they are the most threatened of all and only 350 of them survive in the wild.   

GORILLAS MATING HABITS AND HOW THEY MATE?

Gorillas mate just like humans and in most cases the process is initiated by the female gorillas this explains why the young female gorillas will vacate their family groups once they become sexually active at around the age of 10 years of age to go and find a lone male gorillas. This is naturally done to avoid breeding within the same group and fighting over who takes the dominant silverback power. The male-female gorillas would rather go and conceive for the less dominant silver back than sleep with their father.

Dominant male silverbacks tend to be hard on fellow male gorillas and will force them off the group to go and look for the female gorillas or join other lone gorillas. The dominant silverback is also the only one who has access to female gorillas in the group family. 

 It’s dramatic and absolutely funny how these human-like primate species of gorillas will then try to snatch away female gorillas from the stable and settled groups. Gorilla males who insist on keeping up with the family even after being chased by the dominant silverback are left to stay around but will behave and keep a low vibe while mating with the female gorillas around as they wait for the death or ageing of their leader.

Gorillas have a low productive rate and that’s what makes them endangered while their gestation period is the same as that of human beings and takes about 9 full months. Female gorillas give birth every four to five years and their new baby may weigh up to 2 kilo grams. Male gorillas start to be sexually active at the age of 15 years.  

It should be noted that gorillas are polygamous and go ahead mating with fertile female gorillas unless they reach the final age, female gorillas can be seen acting disloyal to the leaving their groups for other family groups. The female gorillas tend to use sex to manipulate and control the dominant silverback and can still mate during pregnancy to stop the silverback from mating with either potential fertile female gorillas.