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Animals

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A-Z

Mountain Gorilla

Gorilla beringei beringei

Male silverback mountain gorillas gain
their distinctive silver tinge at about 13 years old, when
they reach adulthood.

Photograph by Michael
Nichols

Mountain Gorilla Profile

There are roughly 700 mountain
gorillas remaining on Earth, and nearly half live in the
forests of the Virunga mountains in central Africa.
These gorillas live on the green, volcanic slopes of
Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo—areas that have seen much human violence from
which the gorillas have not escaped
unscathed.

Many conservation initiatives are
meant to aid mountain gorillas, and it is believed that
their numbers may be steady or slowly increasing. Still
they continue to face major threats from habitat loss
and poaching.

Mountain gorillas have longer hair
and shorter arms than their lowland cousins. They also
tend to be a bit larger than other
gorillas.

Gorillas can climb trees, but are
usually found on the ground in communities of up to 30
individuals. These troops are organized according to
fascinating social structures. Troops are led by one
dominant, older adult male, often called a silverback
because of the swath of silver hair that adorns his
otherwise dark fur. Troops also include several other
young males, some females, and their
offspring.

The leader organizes troop activities
like eating, nesting in leaves, and moving about the
group's 0.75-to-16-square-mile
(2-to-40-square-kilometer) home range.

Those who
challenge this alpha male are apt to be cowed by
impressive shows of physical power. He may stand
upright, throw things, make aggressive charges, and
pound his huge chest while barking out powerful hoots or
unleashing a frightening roar. Despite these displays
and the animals' obvious physical power, gorillas are
generally calm and nonaggressive unless they are
disturbed.

In the thick forests of central and
west Africa, troops find plentiful food for their
vegetarian diet. They eat roots, shoots, fruit, wild
celery, and tree bark and pulp.

Female gorillas
give birth to one infant after a pregnancy of nearly
nine months. Unlike their powerful parents, newborns are
tiny—weighing four pounds (two kilograms)—and able only
to cling to their mothers' fur. These infants ride on
their mothers' backs from the age of four months through
the first two or three years of their
lives.

Young gorillas, from three to six years
old, remind human observers of children. Much of their
day is spent in play, climbing trees, chasing one
another, and swinging from branches.

In
captivity, gorillas have displayed significant
intelligence and have even learned simple human sign
language.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 35
years

Size: Standing height, 4 to 6 ft
(1.2 to 1.8 m)

Weight: 300 to 485 lbs (135 to 220
kg)

Group name: Troop or Band

Protection status: Endangered

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)
man:

Multimedia

Photo
Gallery: Gorillas

Mountain Gorilla Printable Factsheet

Video:
Gorilla Rescue

Primate Features

Virunga
Gorillas

Virunga National Park, home to nearly 200 gorillas,
has become a battleground for militia groups and the
Congolese army.

Learn
More

Kids:
Gorilla Creature Feature

Get fun facts on mountain gorillas, plus video,
audio, photos, and more at National Geographic's Kids
site.

Explore
More

Congo
Trek

Go with conservationist Michael Fay on a 2,000-mile
(3,200-kilometer) trek across Central Africa.

Learn
More

Africa's
Eden

Read how an African president created 13 new national
parks in an effort to save Gabon's wilderness from the
logger's ax in this multimedia feature.

Learn
More

How You Can Help

Great Ape
Project

World
Wildlife Fund

Other Primates

Western
Lowland Gorilla

Chimpanzee

Orangutan

Baboon

Howler
Monkey

Mandrill

Mountain Gorilla range

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