What is Unique About Mountain Gorillas?

What is unique about mountain gorillas? What makes mountain gorillas special? Over 500,000 great apes still live in the wild today and they include chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. But, of all the existing great apes, gorillas are special on their own with mountain gorillas being the most sought for sub-species by most tourists on gorilla safaris in Africa.

Mountain gorillas live only in the dense forests of Virunga Conservation Area- VCA that is Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Kisoro-Uganda and Virunga National Park in the D.R. Congo. The 3 of the Virunga Conservation Areas inhabit over 604 of the remaining 1063 mountain gorillas and more than 459 of them live in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Kabale-Uganda.

Unlike other great apes, mountain gorillas reside mostly in the montane areas with an elevation range of 2500-4000 meters. They derived their name considering the kind of their habitats. The temperatures at 2500-4000m often drop and can be cold, but luckily, these great apes have thicker, longer fur compared to the rest of the gorillas.

What makes mountain gorillas unique/Unique Facts?

Mountain gorillas have nose print that is unique from one gorilla to the other just like a human fingerprint is distinct to every human being.

They are social in nature. Mountain gorillas live in groups or families and they can move in groups of 5-30 or more while searching for what to eat etc. In each gorilla family, there are females, black backs, infants, and a silverback who is the leader.

Mountain gorillas aren’t territorial although the silverbacks often fight in order to protect females and the rest of the members of the group.

Mountain gorillas are a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla and there are fewer than 1063 of them left on earth today. They reside in East-Central Africa in 2 locations- the Virunga Region and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

The Virunga Region consists of 3 National Parks- Virunga in Congo, Volcanoes National Park in far Northwestern Rwanda, and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. In all the 4 National Parks, there are habituated gorilla families each is trekked by a maximum of 8 tourists per day.

To track gorilla families in Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo, tourists require valid gorilla permits. In Uganda, tourists can book gorilla permits at USD700 per person, USD1500 for Rwanda, and USD450 in case you are visiting Congo to see mountain gorillas in Virunga NP or eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega NP.

Mountain gorillas share over 98% of human DNA is similar to that of gorillas. This makes them our closest relatives in the wild and also very susceptible to any human illnesses.

Mountain gorillas are a few biggest and most powerful living apes on earth. An average male mountain gorilla weighs up to 180kgs and grows 170cm tall.

Mountain gorillas can spend the whole day foraging and they feed on leaves, shoots, fruits, and more. At times, they have been spotted feeding on ants, etc. At night, they stay in their nests sleeping and this can be on the ground or up the trees. The infants stay together with their mothers in the same nest for them to be safe and kept warm.

Mountain gorillas are known to have 16 distinct calls- including short barks and in case of any rivals, the male gorillas beat their chests or tree bark.

Lifespan- Mountain gorillas can live up to 40 years in the wild. Between 8 and 12 years, male gorillas are termed as black backs and from 12 years when they are old and grow silver/gray like hair on their backs, they become silverbacks.