What are the Interesting Facts about Gorillas?
Mountain gorillas are famous apes that attract many individuals to get out of their comfort and travel to many different parts of the world the best destinations where to see these endangered species are in countries like; Uganda within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park then in Rwanda in Volcanoes national park and in the Democratic Republic of Congo and many others hence ranking Uganda to have the highest number of mountain gorillas compared to the other countries. More so, these gorillas are known to share almost 98% of their DNA with humans and to see these species, tourists always involve themselves in trekking through different trails within the game parks with the aim of trekking these species in their natural habitats.
Many people make an effort to visit the above three countries throughout the year in order to get opportunities to see the rare endangered mountain gorillas. And in the context below; we will investigate more about the interesting facts that make these species to be special and exciting to see and know about. Therefore, some of these facts include;
- The endangered mountain gorillas live in high altitudes of mountains, dense forests, and mountainous forests as their good natural habitats.
- Mountain Gorillas are social and friendly species among themselves due to the fact that they live in groups of about 3 to 30 species to the extent that it is rare to spot a gorilla alone within the park.
- More so, in these groups/ families of the endangered mountain gorilla species, each group always has its leader which always has to be a dominant male commonly referred to as a “silverback”. Therefore, these gorilla families are comprised of a male leader and many other females with their offspring.
- Mountain gorillas are considered and ranked to be among the largest and strongest primate species within the parks.
- Within their groups, both male and female species have the responsibility of taking care of their infants and this is usually noted when the species are spotted playing with the infants and while they are protecting from harm from other predators within the game parks.
- For one to see these species, one will have to walk through different trails within the park as they being guided by a park guide whose role is to lead them through due to the fact they have a lot of knowledge about the mountain gorillas and they are also familiar with many different parts of the park, so it can be easy for them to track where the species are located. However, individuals are always advised to apply some tricks that help them to track the mountain gorillas easily and some of these tricks include; following trails with fresh footprints of species, where there is food left over, broken tree branches, and many others.
- The endangered mountain gorillas feed on leaves, fruits, shoots insects and snails and many others as their food. however, silver being the leader has to feed first, and then other members of the group can eat.
- More so, being that silverbacks have a major role in protecting other species of the group. Therefore, they always fight anyone or anything that has intentions of harming the gorillas to the extent that this male dominant can even die for its members.
- Endangered mountain gorillas are more interesting species that tourists would encounter due to the fact that they are friendly as long as their peace is not interrupted by any threats. More so, they share 98% of their DNA with humans and they are able to do some things that humans do and they are also prone to be affected by some similar diseases like humans do.
- Mountain gorillas also can communicate with gestures, using unique sounds like; barking, hooting, roaring, strutting with their legs, beating their chest, and many others.
- It is recorded that there is a total population of about 1080 mountain gorillas in the whole world. The best destinations where to track these mountain gorillas in three countries in different destinations like; Virunga National Park, Volcanoes National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park which is known to be home to the highest number of about 800 endangered mountain gorillas. Apart from the above-mentioned facts, there is more to learn about the gorillas such as; that they live up to 40 years and many others.
Contact our trusted tour operators for more information about what interesting facts are there to learn about the endangered mountain gorillas and then book with our tours and travel companies such as; Achieve Global Safaris and Focus East Africa Tours who offer the best tour packages when on your gorilla trekking safari in countries like; Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
