With the release of Endangered in 2021 – a conservation documentary produced and narrated by Ellen – we also expanded to support Grauer’s gorillas!ĪBOUT GRAUER’S GORILLAS: The Grauer’s gorilla (sometimes called Eastern Lowland gorilla), is perhaps the largest of the four subspecies of gorilla (although recent info says they may actually be tied for largest with mountain gorillas). The Ellen Fund’s first project was to secure a future for wild mountain gorillas by supporting a science and education campus for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. And while twin gorillas are rare, a few twin babies have been spotted in the wild and in captivity.
While mountain gorillas weigh less than five pounds when they are born, female gorillas can reach up to 200 pounds and silverbacks up to 450 pounds!Īdult female mountain gorillas give birth to one baby every three to five years. Once male gorillas reach sexual maturity, and the hair across their shoulders and down their back becomes greyish, they can fight other silverbacks to become the troop’s leader. Each group has one dominant male called a silverback who protects the troop, defines the group’s territory and routines, and has breeding rights to all adult females in the family. Gorillas live in family groups made up of 2 to 40 gorillas. Mountain gorillas like fresh beds! Every night each gorilla builds its own nest, except for baby gorillas, who sleep with their mothers until they’re about three.
The main structural difference between apes and monkeys is that apes don’t have tails.Įven though most primates have a tree-living way of life, gorillas are terrestrial creatures that spend 95% of their time on the ground and occasionally climb trees for fun… just like us. Mountain gorillas get visits from the doctor too! When a gorilla is spotted with signs of illness or injury, veterinarians can use medicines and vaccines that are administered using dart guns. For reasons we don’t fully understand, mountain gorillas don’t survive in captivity (although other subspecies, like lowland gorillas, do).įrom screams, grunts, roars and growls.mountain gorillas use more than 20 different sounds to communicate. There are no mountain gorillas known to exist in captivity. Humans are the only ape species that is not threatened by extinction.ĭid you know we share 98% of our DNA and have the same blood type as gorillas? Like humans, gorillas can’t naturally swim, they have 10 fingers, 32 teeth, forward-looking eyes and sharp color vision.įrom habitat destruction to poaching and diseases, humans are gorillas biggest threat.
These knuckle-walkers are the world’s largest living primates.Īll gorillas are an important part of the forest ecosystem, as they trim plants while they eat and constantly spread seeds around the forest.ĭid you know that African great apes–-that is the gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos–-are human’s closest living relatives? We are all part the same superfamily, the Hominidae. With a little more than 1,000 mountain gorillas remaining in our planet, this is the only great ape in the world whose population is rising.
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