Western Gorilla

Information

The western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is a critically endangered species of the genus Gorilla and the largest living primate. At present, the species is subdivided into two subspecies. The cross river gorilla (G. g. delhi), and the Western Lowland Gorilla (G. g. gorilla) is more populous, at about 3,800 individuals. The western gorilla is a large ape with a large head, broad chest, and long arms. It has a flat nose with large nostrils. The face, hands, feet and breast are bald. The fur is mainly black, but adult males have a silvery "saddle" on their back, bum, and thighs. When the gorilla gets older, the hair on the saddle of the back becomes white, much like the gray hair of elderly people. This is why the older males are called silverbacks. Males are much larger than females. A full-grown male eastern gorilla typically weighs 140–205.5 kg (309–453 lb) and stands 1.7 m (5.6 ft) upright and a female typically weighs 90–100 kg (200–220 lb) and stands 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall. The tallest silverback recorded was a 1.95-metre (6.4 ft) individual shot in Alimbongo, northern Kivu in May 1938. The heaviest gorilla recorded was a 1.83-metre (6.0 ft) silverback shot in Ambam, Cameroon, which weighed 267 kilograms (589 lb), although the latter area is within the range of the eastern gorilla, far outside that of the western gorilla. Western gorillas are herbivorous, with a heavily foliage based diet, due to lack of available fruit in their habitats. They have smaller home ranges than western gorillas as foliage is more abundant than fruit. They are diurnal but the majority of foraging occurs in the morning and late afternoon. At night, they build nests by folding over vegetation, usually on the ground.

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