Gorillas

The Gorilla

King of the Apes

Gorilla 's are the largest of all the great apes , and are found only in the remaining forests of Central and East Africa (www .worldwildlife .org . Belonging to the Primates , the family Hominidae and the genus Gorilla Gorillas can be divided further into two species , G . beringei and G . gorilla and then further still into four subspecies , G . b . beringei , the Eastern Mountain Gorilla , G . b . graueri the Eastern Lowland Gorilla , G . g . deihli , the Cross River Gorilla and G . g . gorilla , the Western Lowland Gorilla

(Lang 1 . For years , gorillas have had to endure the civil wars of Central and East Africa that ravaged their natural habitats and today both species are critically endangered and are listed on CITES I (www .cites .org . This is a list of most endangered plant and animal species on the planet , and those listed in Appendix I are the animals that are critically endangered and threatened with extinction . CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species (www .cites .org

With 97-98 of its DNA identical to humans (Groves 181 , gorillas are our third closest living relatives , apart from two chimpanzee species As a result , it is not surprising that gorillas look so similar to us They have a humanoid shape , the same facial structure and even opposable thumbs . Adult male gorillas can grow to a height of 1 .7m , or 5 .58ft , and can weigh as much as 181kg in the wild and 227 in captivity , or 400lb and 500lb respectively . Females are slightly smaller at 1 .5m , or 4 .92ft with a weight of between 72 to 98kg , or 159 to 216lb (Lang 1 . Gorillas reproduce sexually , and females become sexually mature at 10-12 years while males take slightly longer and become sexually mature 11-13 years of age . Females have a gestation period of 8 .5months and usually give birth to only one offspring at a time (Lang 1 . As mammals , the females give birth to live young and nourish their offspring with secretions from their mammary glands . A female with care for her offspring for 3 to 4 years and will only give birth again once the juvenile gorilla can fend for itself (Csmos 1 . In the wild , gorillas live to be between 30 and 40 years of age , but in captivity they have been known to live to be 50 years old (Lang 1 . They are herbivores , and feed on leaves , fruits and shoots (www .worldwildlife .org

Gorillas are only found in the tropical and subtropical forests of Central and East Africa (Csmos 1 . Although this range is small in area gorillas are able to survive at a wide range of elevations . As implied by their name , the Mountain Gorilla can be found at altitudes of between 2225 to 4267m , or 7300 to 14000ft , in the cloud forests of the Virunga Volcano . Eastern and Western Lowland Gorillas however can be found at sea level , in a range of habitats , including thick marshes...