Mountain gorilla diet- Gorilla food
Mountain gorilla diet: Gorillas are regarded as critically endangered creatures found in central and east Africa. Gorillas are classified into two that is the eastern gorillas and the western gorillas, the eastern gorillas are subdivided into two, the mountain gorillas and the eastern lowland gorilla. The western gorillas consist of the Western lowland gorillas and the cross-river gorillas, but both found in the tropical regions of the African Continent. These gorilla species only differ in size and the sound used to communicate but are all regarded as endangered creatures.
Mountain gorillas are subspecies of the eastern gorillas (gorilla Beringei). Mountain gorillas have homes in the Virunga mountains, which are shared by Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are found in the Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda, Virunga National Park in DRC, Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, in addition to these parks in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
These national parks are found in dense tropical rainforests and Bwindi National Park holds over half of the total number of gorillas in the world. Gorillas are often threatened by poaching, diseases and habitat destruction by humans.
Lowland gorillas are plentiful and widespread in Western Africa in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The exact number of lowland mountain gorillas is not established because they stay in remote rain forests and isolated swamps. They are slightly smaller in size and largely fed on plant shoots, tree bark and small insects.
What do gorillas eat?
Mountain gorillas are the largest primates in the world that mainly feed on vegetation to keep afloat. The mountain gorilla diet constitutes of plant life of over 140 plant species. They feed on fleshy leaves, stems, fruits, and bamboo shoots. Leaves and plant stems cover 86% of their diet,7% is edible roots,3% flowers, and 2% fruits. An adult male mountain gorilla consumes about 34kg and a female 18 kg of food daily. Mountain gorillas rarely take water as they usually live in higher altitudes that are always cool and the dense forests receive rain frequently and the vegetation they feed on is juicy.
What do baby gorillas feed on?
Like humans, newly born gorillas are called baby gorillas, newly born gorilla weighs about 4.5kgs but are powerful enough that they can hold on to their mothers’ bodies, baby gorillas rely on their mother’s milk and start feeding on vegetation at 2.5 months but still under intensive care of the mother. A young gorilla is breastfed for 2-3 years after which they start feeding normally like adult gorillas.
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How many times does a gorilla feed?
An adult gorilla feeds twice a day, in the morning and evening, baby gorillas that are unable to move to higher altitudes do not have restricted diets. When the adults complete their meals, they always rest besides the young ones to provide security.
How mountain gorillas collect food
Mountain gorillas are so far the largest and strongest primates on earth. A male gorilla weighs between 136 to 196kg and a female can weigh 68 kg to 115kg.
They use this gigantic strength to break up the vegetation and eat their part of interest. Gorillas use a selective nature when feeding. They do not complete all the vegetation in an area. They constantly rotate from one place to another to allow plant regeneration.
They use their hands and lips to grab a particular part of a plant.
Mountain gorillas rarely face scarcity of food because they live in dense rain forests that receive rains almost throughout the year. This enables faster vegetation growth. Mountain gorillas do not move in distant places which enables trekkers to see them easily.
Can gorillas eat each other?
Gorillas eat roughly 40 pounds of vegetation and fruit. An addition to the daily diet can be termites and ants. Gorillas are herbivores and do not eat meat.
Do gorillas kill each other?
Gorillas usually get disagreements amongst themselves like humans, they can fight or be aggressive in different ways, killing one another is rare. They beat the chest or produce roaring sounds that at times bark but do not bite.
