What Do Gorillas Eat in the Wild? Gorilla Diet and Food they Eat:

Mountain gorillas mainly eat leafy plant parts, stems, roots, minimal fruit and insects like ants and termites and invertebrates. However, in the dry season, only a few juicy fruits are available and so the apes have to eat more seeds and tree bark instead. Fruits grow on trees and therefore, gorillas of all ages will climb trees to harvest them.

Mountain Gorillas are known to consume over 142 plant species; mainly leafy plant parts such as leaves, stems and shoots off plants and this covers about 86% of their diet, 7% is composed of edible roots and 3% flowers.

They consume 2% fruits because they live at high altitudes where there is hardly more fruit they can consume compared to lowland gorillas whose diet is mostly composed of fruit. Mountain gorillas also occasionally eat ants, snails, and grubs taking up 2% of their diet. 

A silverback (adult male gorilla) can eat upto 34kgs of vegetation per day while females can eat upto 18kgs per day. Mountain gorillas rarely drink water. They usually substitute water intake with juice from succulent foliage that they feed on and dew that rests on the foliage.

How Mountain Gorillas collect their food?

Mountain gorillas are the largest primates weighing upto 95kgs. This makes them the strongest apes in the world, and they can break apart any type of vegetation, using their hands and mouth.

Since they eat from a variety of plants, they keep moving from place to place through mountainous regions munching throughout the day. This habit earns them the name ‘careful eaters’ and allows plants to recover quickly for the next round of feeding.

What fruits do gorillas eat?

Gorillas eat fruits like bananas, berries, figs, papayas and guavas among others, which help to increase their hydration levels. However, in most cases, gorillas feed on a large portion of high-quality plant stems and leaves such as pith, a tissue generated from the stems of several flowering plants.

Talk to Us about Gorillas

Do gorillas eat meat?

Gorillas do not eat meat because they are considered carnivores although to a smaller extent, they may be served meat in zoos or under captivity. Generally, gorillas mainly feed on plant leaves, flowers, stems and roots and a small proportion of fruits to supplement their diet.

Their vegetarian diet consists of leafy greens such as lettuce and kale, carrots, zucchini, celery, and fruit such as bananas, apples or oranges. They may also eat small vertebrates and insects as well.

What do gorillas eat for protein?

Gorillas eat protein-rich leaves and limited amount of insects, such as termites ants and small vertebrates for protein. However, sometimes carbohydrate-rich fruits may displace a large portion of protein-rich leaves in their diet.

Do gorillas eat bananas?

Gorillas do not eat bananas in the jungles but they can eat them in zoos. This is because they cannot easily access them in the jungles even though they can eat them and therefore may not form part of their natural diet.

Do gorillas eat fish?

No! Gorillas do not eat fish or meat in the wild. They are largely vegetarians with their diet comprising leaves, flowers, stems, roots and complement with some insects like termites and snails.

What do gorillas do?

Gorillas usually spend almost half of the day eating leaves, stems, roots and insects. They also rest for almost a third of the day, and go wondering through the forest jungles while engaging in social behaviour since they are social animals.

How many gorillas are left in the world?

There is an estimated 1,000 gorilla individuals left in the world today, with about 604 individuals from 480 individuals in 2010 in the Virunga Massif (shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo) and the remainder in Bwindi Impenetrable national Park in Uganda.

After the recent decline of gorilla population in this region due to civil unrest, conservation efforts have been encouraged and found success.

Where do gorillas live?

Eastern gorillas live in the Virunga mountain ranges which is made up of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.

Western gorillas live in Cameroon, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo and Angola. The two species of gorillas live in a wide range of habitats and elevations, from montane forest to swampland.