They live in small numbers of about 25 to 35 members per group. They usually have one leading male, accompanied by several females with their young. A Gorilla that has just been born weighs on average 2.5Kgs. This is approximately half the weight of a human baby.

Within 40 weeks however, the gorilla can walk, and reaching 3 years, it slowly becomes independent; hence develops twice as fast.
At 6 years, they are about 1.20 meters tall and weigh almost 70Kgs. The gorillas continue gaining weight for the next 4 years, though the female one matures at this age. On the other hand, males don’t reach maturity till they are 10 years old. When that black back begins turning into grey, it is time for them to depart the parental group. These wonder alone or join other males for some time, before attracting females who will join them. They form their own family in this way.

Their world population doesn’t increase rapidly as they reproduce slowly. Gestation period is approximately 8.5 months and gorilla mothers give birth to a baby once every 4 years. Due to diseases and accidents, at least 30% doesn’t survive their first year. Another incident that leads to death among the baby gorillas is when their father dies and another silverback takes over. The new male often secures his own genes in the posterity, killing all the babies of his predecessor.

Bookmark to:

Tags: apes, gorilla safaris, gorillas, rwanda, uganda