A species of gorilla. From the Guinness Book. Gorillas are friendly

Often in non-documentary films, the gorilla appears before us in the form of a formidable animal, beating its chest with a militant roar and ready to pounce at any moment. In fact, these large monkeys are very peaceful and non-conflicting. With correct behavior, you can approach them at a distance of up to 3-4 meters.

The scientific world distinguishes 2 species of gorillas, and each of them has two more subspecies. These are: the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei). All of them live in African tropical forests located in the western and central parts of the continent.

Gorillas are rightfully recognized as the largest representatives of the primate order. Thus, the average height of an adult male is approximately 170-180 cm, but 2-meter individuals are also found. Their weight can reach more than 250 kg. Not every branch or even tree can support such a large animal. Therefore, for the most part, males live on the ground. They climb trees only in rare cases, for example, to pick up younger leaves or fruits and nuts that they like. Females are almost 2 times smaller and lighter than males.

Any bodybuilder can envy the developed muscles and strength of a gorilla. They spend most of their time and move on all fours, although they can stand and even walk perfectly well on their hind legs. Gorillas are distinguished from other apes by one feature that can also be seen in chimpanzees - when walking on all fours, they rely not on the pads of their fingers and palms, but on the back of the bent fingers on their front paws. This is done in order to protect the sensitive skin on the feet.

The male gorilla’s menacing appearance is given not only by his size, but also by his large conical head, as well as thick, dark, almost black, fur. Adult males can be easily recognized by the silvery stripe that runs along the entire back and partially affects the hind legs. Particularly long hair is observed in mountain gorillas. It saves them well from the cold and harsh climate of these habitats.

The structure of the hands of these monkeys is adapted for collecting food and building nests - the thumb is shorter than the others and most often is opposed to them (look at your palm - this will become a clear example).

Gorillas live in small groups, which most often consist of 3-5 individuals, but their number can reach 30. This is a leader male, one or more females and their cubs. All members of the pack unanimously obey the oldest and strongest male. It is he who determines the entire daily routine: when to eat, play, run errands, take a walk and even go to bed.

Their daily routine begins with waking up and morning feeding, which lasts about 2 hours and gradually flows into lunch. During the hottest time of the day, their activity decreases. At this time, the following picture can be observed: well-fed and satisfied gorillas, in particular females with cubs, gather and lie not far from the leader.

Some are dozing at this time, others are cleaning the fur of their cubs or themselves, but not of their “neighbors” in the group or the male. At the same time, the young frolic nearby, playing or exploring the nearby surroundings.

Sometimes quarrels can occur between females, which subside after a short “verbal” skirmish. The leader prefers to remain on the sidelines at these moments. Having rested, everyone goes in search of a new place where their lunch will smoothly flow into dinner, and where the construction of a temporary nest for the night is not far off.

They go to sleep where night finds them. First, the male begins to prepare for sleep, building a large nest for himself on the ground, consisting of branches and trampled grass. Other members of the group follow his example. Females with cubs sometimes climb trees. With the arrival of darkness, all movement and commotion in the group ceases.

Gorillas are vegetarians. They feed mostly on grass and leaves (nettle, wild celery, young bamboo shoots, etc.), with all kinds of fruits coming in second place. Animal food is consumed in rare cases. They get all the moisture they need from juicy greens.

Gorilla babies are born every 3-5 years. Each female brings only one cub, which is entirely dependent on the mother for the first few years of life. She will take him where he needs to go, and feed him, and clean him, and punish and caress the offenders. And even after he grows up (at 3-4 years old), you can sometimes see how a mother shows care for her now adult child.

Puberty in males begins a little later than in females - at 11-13 years (in females - at 10-12 years). The duration of pregnancy is 8.5 months. Males treat their cubs well, but do not often show fatherly care. There is a mother for this case.

As for talking about the aggression of gorillas, everything is controversial. In fact, gorillas are considered to be quite calm and peaceful creatures. Real fierce fights rarely occur between males, ending with sad consequences. Most often, such meetings are resolved by noisy demonstrations of force in the form of loud growls and attacks on the enemy, ending with sudden stops in front of him, standing on his hind legs and beating his chest. The male will not attack until the enemy takes flight, but even in this case he will only bite the fleeing enemy on the leg or other rear part of the body. But it's not fatal.

When encountering gorillas in the wild, you should never immediately run away. The male will perceive this as the beginning of an attack. It is advised to freeze in place, get on all fours and lower your head down. This will mean confirmation of your submission. This is quite enough for the male to calm down.

Now in the world of gorillas there are about 16-17 thousand individuals, but one of the subspecies - the eastern mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) consists of only 600 individuals. They are listed in the International Red Book and are also protected by the Wildlife Fund and many other environmental organizations. These animals feel great and reproduce well in captivity; the main thing is to provide them with comfortable living conditions.

The largest hominid known to science (family Hominidae) was Gigantopithecus (genus Gigantopithecus), whose size by a large margin surpassed not only its closest hominid relatives, but also all other primates (order Primates).
Currently, three species of this genus are known - Gigantopithecus blacki, Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis and Gigantopithecus giganteus. The largest of the Gigantopithecus was Gigantopithecus Black. Standing on two legs, this hominid is believed to have reached a maximum height of 3 meters and a maximum weight of 540 kg.
The giant Gigantopithecus, despite its name, was significantly smaller in size. Bilaspur Gigantopithecus was the closest relative of Gigantopithecus Black and, apparently, also exceeded the so-called Gigantopithecus giganteus in size.
Male Gigantopithecus compared to a human silhouette:

An honorable second place belongs to Meganthropus. Meganthropus is the name given to the largest subspecies of the species that precedes us - Homo erectus. However, Meganthropus specifically was not our ancestor, but represented a lateral (dead-end) branch of Homo erectus. Apparently, Meganthropus belongs to the subspecies Homo erectus palaeojavanicus (but this remains in question). The maximum height of Meganthropus is estimated at 2.44 meters, and the maximum weight is 272 kg (minimum - 181 kg). Thus, Meganthropus is the largest upright primate that has ever existed on Earth.

A male meganthrope compared to a human:

Third place belongs to the familiar gorilla (genus Gorilla). The modern fauna is inhabited by two species of gorillas - the western or common gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei), which is sometimes called the mountain gorilla, although this name is more correctly applied to only one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla - Gorilla beringei beringei. The second subspecies of the eastern gorilla is Gorilla beringei graueri (eastern lowland gorilla).
It is difficult to say which of the two species of gorillas is the largest. On average, the western gorilla reaches a larger size than the eastern gorilla, although the latter is somewhat more massive. According to some sources, the average weight of male Western gorillas from zoos is about 157 kg, and the average height is about 155 cm. According to other sources, the average weight of males is 180 kg, and the average height is about 175 cm. The maximum weight is given at 275 kg.
For male eastern gorillas, according to one source, the average weight is 140-205.5 kg, and the average height is about 170 cm. And the maximum weight and height are 266 kg and 183 cm, respectively. According to other sources, the average weight of males is about 160 kg, and the maximum is 200 kg. And height, taking into account both sexes, varies from 150 to 185 cm.

Male Western Gorilla:

Male eastern gorilla:

Our species, Homo sapeins, shares fourth place with one of the largest modern primates - orangutans (genus Pongo). The modern fauna is inhabited by two species of this genus - the Kalimantan or Bornean orangutan (Pongo pigmaeus) and the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii).
The largest subspecies (race) of Homo sapiens was the Cro-Magnon man. Modern people can also reach equally large and even larger sizes, but on average they are inferior to him. The average height of Cro-Magnon men was approximately 185-190 cm, approximately the same as that of modern Scandinavians. Some African tribes, such as the Turacana, have an even higher average height. However, Cro-Magnons had a more massive build and thicker bone walls than modern people. The maximum weight of a modern person, in athletic shape with a very muscular body and maximum height, is about 150-160 kg and even a little more.
As for orangutans, both species have approximately the same size, but the Kalimantan orangutan, on average, is still somewhat inferior to its Sumatran relative. The average weight of mature male Kalimantan orangutans is about 75 kg, and height varies from about 120 to 140 cm. According to other sources, the average height of males is 97 cm and weight 87 kg.
The average weight of male Sumatran orangutans is approximately 90 kg and height is about 140 cm. According to other sources, large male Sumatran orangutans can reach a height of 180 cm.
It is difficult to say who is larger, a human or an orangutan, since in orangutans sexual dimorphism in size is more pronounced than in us. In terms of their maximum size and body weight, humans are still slightly superior to orangutans, but the average weight of the latter is slightly higher than that of Homo sapiens males. But women of our species, both on average and in terms of maximum indicators, are significantly superior in size and body weight to female orangutans.

Cro-Magnon man, one of the Magdalenian deer hunters:

Male Kalimantan orangutan:

Male Sumatran orangutan:

Fifth place belongs to Paranthropus, a genus close to our distant predecessors Australopithecus (genus Australopithecus). Often, especially in older literature, they are called massive austrolapithecines.
Currently, three species of this genus are known - the Ethiopian paranthropus (Paranthropus aethiopicus), the Boise paranthropus (Paranthropus boisei) and the massive paranthropus (Paranthropus robustus).
The largest and most massive representative of this genus was, despite its name, not the massive Paranthropus, but Beuys's Paranthropus. It reached a height of 140 cm with a maximum weight (according to some sources) of 90 kg. Unfortunately, the exact dimensions of the Ethiopian paranthropus are unknown to me at the moment. As for the so-called massive Paranthropus, it, apparently, was the smallest (or at least one of the smallest) representative of its genus. The height of males of this species, as a rule, was approximately 120, and the weight was about 54 kg. However, the teeth of Massivengo Paranthropus were comparable in size to the teeth of the larger Paranthropus Beuys.

Male Paranthropus Boyce:

Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)- the largest monkey of the family of apes of the primate order (Primates).

The height of adult males is up to 175 cm and more, arm span up to 260 cm, chest girth up to 152 cm, weigh 135-180 kg (in captivity up to 300 kg).

Females are much smaller (weigh 75-110 kg, in captivity up to 126).

The hair is black, brown on the crown, and gray on the back with age. The head is large, the eyebrows protrude strongly, the body is massive, the upper limbs are longer than the lower ones.

The similarities in body structure with humans are partly explained by the terrestrial way of life. The volume of the brain box is 500-600 cubic meters. cm (up to 752 cubic cm), the brain structure is close to the human brain. There are 48 chromosomes (humans have 46).

Gorillas are common in Equatorial Africa. 3 subspecies: the western lowland gorilla and the larger eastern ones - mountain and lowland. They live in tropical or mountain forests.

They live in small herds (5-30 individuals each), led by powerful males. They move on the ground on four limbs. Sometimes they climb trees. Plant food - fruits, berries, nuts.

At night they build nests on the ground or in trees. Gestation period is from 250 to 290 days: the newborn weighs about 2 kg. Life expectancy in the wild is 25-30 years. As a result of hunting, they were greatly exterminated; are under protection. Captivity is poorly tolerated and they rarely reproduce.

In Uganda, a French-Ugandan team of researchers discovered the remains of a large prehistoric ape. The found fragments, including a significant number of teeth and a piece of skin, allow us to confidently conclude that the monkey belongs to a hitherto unknown species.

Judging by the remains, the monkey must have reached the size of a female gorilla, that is, it was larger than all fossil monkeys known to science. According to a specialist from the French Museum of Natural History, the excavations suggest that "there were significant numbers of monkeys in Africa during this Miocene period, which promises further discoveries." The fossil, discovered in an area called Napak, was named Ugandapithecus major.

'Intelligent' gorilla puzzles primatologists

A young female gorilla, two and a half years old, would have lived in complete obscurity in one of the small reserves in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), if by chance the park staff had not caught her doing a curious activity: a monkey was cracking nuts laid out on another stone with a stone. oil palm to eat the pulp.

For scientists studying the behavior of gorillas, this became a worldwide sensation. The fact is that the use of the “hammer and anvil” method is considered one of the most complex technical methods of obtaining food by great apes, and such behavior has never before been recorded among gorillas.

The “dossier” of the smart gorilla was immediately studied, which received its own name Itebero (after the name of the area where it was first discovered, taken from poachers).

It was determined that the monkey was not taught any tricks. But until now in primatology it was believed that the only ones capable of mastering the “hammer and anvil” technique from the entire family of pongids - great apes - are chimpanzees.

Moreover, for this they require not even months, but years of sessions of copying human actions with constant contact with the trainer.

No one taught the Itebero in the tropical forests of Eastern Congo anything like this.

It follows, said Gottfried Homann, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, that gorillas are smarter than previously thought.

Reports of the “intelligent” gorilla have prompted a response from scientists studying these animals in the neighboring country of the Republic of Congo.

American primatologist Thomas Breuer, who has been conducting observations in the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park for more than ten years, said that during all this time he only twice observed how his “wards” used improvised means to solve problems that arose.

One time, a gorilla used a log as a floating bridge to get to the other side of the river. Another time I tried to find out the depth of the pond with the help of a stick.

Lifestyle

According to one apt expression, gorillas are the real “cows” among primates. Their daily life is very monotonous, and only occasionally does something disrupt the usual rhythm of existence. Typically, more than half of the day is spent sleeping at night, about 40% of the remaining time is spent on daytime rest, 30% on feeding and another 30% on transitions or eating on the go. Everything vitally necessary is given to gorillas almost effortlessly - food, material for making a nest, the company of their own kind, family life - and the monkeys hardly have to compete for all this. Since each member of the herd knows perfectly well the place he occupies in the group, there is rarely any fighting in it.

Movement

Female mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) walks, leaning on his knuckles.

Although gorillas can climb trees well, they are predominantly terrestrial animals - there is more suitable food for them below. As a rule, they move on the ground on all fours, stepping on the substrate with the entire sole of the foot and, in addition, resting on the dorsal surface of the middle phalanges of the bent fingers of the forelimbs. This method of walking allows you to preserve fairly thin sensitive skin on the inside of your hand. Chimpanzees move in a similar way. Usually gorillas walk slowly, at a speed of about 3-5 km/hour, but if necessary they can run at a fairly fast gallop. Monkeys often assume an upright position, but rarely walk on their hind limbs and walk short distances - for example, while feeding or in defensive situations. Since the hind limbs are not adapted for such movement, the steps are small, and the body sways from side to side when taking them.

Male mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) runs at a gallop.

In eastern equatorial Africa, when gorillas are awake, they are on the ground 80 to 90% of the time. However, in the west, where there are much more fruit trees, adult individuals, including the most massive males, spend quite a lot of time on them. If an adult gorilla decides to climb a tree, it does so slowly. She climbs the trunk with the agility of a ten-year-old boy, grabbing a branch, leaning on something with her foot, and at the same time pulling herself up with her other arm. Sometimes, doubting the reliability of the support, the monkey first tries it, pulls the branch and then transfers the entire weight of his body to it. Gorillas are not very agile and often make mistakes in their calculations about the strength of a branch. Sometimes branches break, and animals avoid falling only by tightly clinging to something with their hands.

Male western lowland gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla) moves on its hind limbs.

Using only their hands, as is typical for orangutans and, to a lesser extent, chimpanzees, gorillas, due to their massiveness, move extremely rarely. They climb down from the trees with their feet down, facing the trunk. If there are no branches, the gorilla simply slides down, intercepting the trunk with his hands and braking with the soles of his feet. At the same time, young light individuals love to play in the crowns and even jump from tree to tree. On average, juveniles climb trees 2 times more often than females and juveniles, and 4 times more often than silverback males. Gorillas have no fear of heights; sometimes they rise to a height of 40 m.

Gorilla beringei graueri) climbs a tree.

Nutrition

Gorillas feed almost exclusively on plants; food of animal origin makes up an insignificant portion of their menu. Since the energy value of the food they eat is low, and the monkeys are very large, they must eat a lot of it. The amount of vegetation consumed daily in adult males reaches 25-34 kg, in females - up to 18 kg. Monkeys prefer fruits to everything else, but the trees that bear them do not grow everywhere, and the fruits themselves ripen only in the rainy season and therefore do not occupy the main place in the diet. The main food products are leaves, shoots and stems, i.e. fairly coarse fibrous food with a high fiber content. Monkeys also consume some quantities of berries, nuts, branches of bushes, roots, soft bark and wood of some trees and vines, various flowers, mushrooms, etc. With few exceptions, the plants consumed have a bitter or unpleasant taste. In general, gorillas are not too conservative in their taste preferences; their diet is quite flexible and varies depending on the season and habitat. Gorillas have a kind of food tradition - animals of different populations eat some plants and ignore others, which can be eaten in other parts of the range.

A group of western lowland gorillas feeding ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

Among western gorillas, the proportion of fruits in the food eaten is relatively high, and in the rainy season, when they are plentiful, reaches 25-50%. According to research results, only one of the groups consumed fruits of no less than 95 different types. Particularly attractive are the fruits of plants such as tetrapleura, chrysophyllum, dialium and landolfia, which, when ripe, attract entire troop of gorillas. In the dry season from January to March, when there are very few juicy fruits, animals switch to more accessible food - stems, leaves, bark. Herbaceous vegetation, rich in proteins and useful minerals, is eaten all year round, while lower quality vegetation is eaten only during the period of absence of fruits. Some seeds are also eaten with pleasure; in particular, in some areas, Gilbertiodendron pods occupy an important place in the diet. In some groups, aquatic plants are often consumed, and monkeys can go into calm bodies of water to collect them. One killed large male of the western lowland subspecies, weighing 169 kg, had 80% of the stomach contents as banana trunk, 10% cassava tubers, 10% fruits, sugar cane, etc.

Female western lowland gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla) eats the fruit.

According to one study, for eastern mountain gorillas, leaves, stems and shoots make up 85.8% of their diet, bark 6.9%, roots 3.3%, flowers 2.3%, fruits 1.7%, small invertebrates - only 0.1%. In total, they consume approximately 142 species of plants, in particular the soft core of the stems of wild celery and dendrosenets, the stems and leaves of bedstraw, nettle, thistle and thistle, the succulent part of the leaves of sedge, reeds and tree ferns, peeled bamboo shoots, fig tree fruits, berries blackberries, leaves, stems, flowers and berries of the galium vine. Some food is seasonal and matures over only a few months of the year, but “basic” food is always available.

Male eastern lowland gorilla ( Gorilla beringei graueri) with a bunch of leaves.

The following entry from Schaller's report gives a good idea of ​​the feeding behavior of mountain gorillas using the example of a black-backed male named Junior during his half-hour feeding: “Junior sits and carefully peers into the vegetation, reaches out, bends the stem of a Senecio trichopterygus. Then he reaches even further and in one quick movement tears off the head of the helichrysum. Having put a fleshy head covered with leaves into his mouth, he looks around, notices two more of the same plants and also eats them. Then he pulls wild celery out of the ground along with the roots, quickly jerking his head to the sides and then back, bites the stem and gnaws out the core. The sun came out for a short time, Junior collapsed on his back. Soon the sun hides behind the clouds, Junior rolls onto his side, holding his right foot with his right hand. After lying motionless for about ten minutes, he sits up, reaches towards Carduus afromontanus, slides his hand upward, thus collecting a bouquet of leaves and stuffing them, stems first, into his mouth. This is followed by the top of the thistle, whole, with spines, and another helichrysum. The younger one gets up, walks about ten feet and returns to his old place, carrying the thistle in one hand and the helychrysum in the other. After eating these plants, he sits hunched over for about fifteen minutes. The rest of the group feeds at a distance, on a small hill. The younger one suddenly gets up and heads towards them, picking off and eating helichrysum along the way. Some gorilla tore out a giant senecio. The younger one stops and tears off the leaf-covered top. He uses his teeth to separate the inedible parts from the stem until all he has left in his hand is a piece of the core five centimeters long, which he eats. This is followed by a lash of bedstraw, and before the Younger disappears into the thickets, helychrysum.”

Mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) feeds on thistles.

Young gorillas still need to learn how to eat certain foods. For example, the bedstraw leaf has three rows of small hooks that easily stick to the fur and scratch the skin. According to Schaller, adult animals handle this plant very carefully: “The sitting female reaches forward and bends the stem of Senecio Trichopterygus towards herself with her right hand, and with her left hand pulls out the bedstraw whip from the ground. After carefully examining it, she removes several dry leaves with her lips. Then he tears off the dry stems, pinching them between the thumb and forefinger, using one hand or the other. Finally, she stuffs the bedstraw several times into her half-open mouth, while twirling the plant in her hand. Thus, she gets a tight bundle of greenery, in which all the leaves fit tightly to one another. All this is put into the mouth and chewed. Little cubs do not yet know how to make such a package and diligently put just long stems into their mouths.”

Male mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) eats tubers.

Gorillas rarely engage in competition for food resources unless favorite food sources are limited to a short growing season or concentrated in limited areas. An example is the pygeum, an oak-like fruit tree that reaches a height of about 18 m and grows only on certain mountain ridges. Due to the relatively small number of these trees and the rather short period of their fruiting, only 2-3 months. year, the ridges on which they grow attract masses of mountain gorillas at the same time. Silver-backed leaders climbing to the highest branches in search of tasty blue fruits are a breathtaking sight. Thanks to their dominant position, they enjoy the right to take the sample first, while animals of a lower rank wait for their turn below and do not climb the tree until the patriarch comes down. Having filled their cheeks with fruits and picked up full handfuls of them, the gorillas deftly move to the nearest stronger branch, sit down on it more comfortably and begin to feast on the meager prey.

Another rare plant favored by mountain gorillas is loranthus, which is related to mistletoe. It grows on skinny alpine trees such as hypericum. Teenagers are much more dexterous at collecting the fleshy flowering stems of Laurenthus than ponderous adults, who often have to wait below until the tidbit falls. If teenagers make a mistake and go down to the ground, naively believing that they will be able to feast on the plants they have collected, adults immediately rudely take the prey away from them.

Male western lowland gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is supported by aquatic plants.

The vegetation that gorillas eat grows mainly in swampy, mountainous areas or in forest plantations, where sunlight penetrates all the way to the ground. Gorillas especially love abandoned fields. Here a lot of their favorite food grows in abundance - marattia fern, herbaceous plants palizot and aframomum, and here they also find leaves and fruits of musang, myrianthus and ficus trees. Sometimes gorillas raid banana groves. By eating mainly not the fruits, but the core of the trunk, they thereby destroy the plants, incurring the wrath of local residents. Even if the monkeys are persecuted, they often return to their old places again and again.

Male mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) eats away the trunk of a banana.

As a rule, gorillas never stay in one food area until it is completely depleted; on the contrary, they “harvest” and move on, maintaining a sufficient amount of vegetation to restore it. At the same time, animals know very well when certain food plants ripen. It is also quite possible that these primates improve their habitat both in the tall grass of the lowlands and on the mountain slopes. If cattle and buffalo trample plants with their strong, sharp hooves, gorillas press them into the ground with soft feet and hands, thereby speeding up the regeneration of vegetation, since many shoots appear from the internodes of half-buried stems. By marking small areas visited only by mountain gorillas, only cattle and buffalo, and not visited at all, the researchers noticed that over 6 weeks of observations, the gorilla plots had much denser vegetation cover. This primarily applied to nettles and thistles. On the other hand, the behavioral habits of gorillas can cause some damage to vegetation, which, however, is temporary. For example, vernonia grows in certain areas of the saddle and on the lower slopes of Mount Visoke in the habitat of mountain gorillas. The flowers, bark and wood of this tree were their favorite food. In addition, vernias were so often chosen by gorillas for nesting and playing that they became less and less common in places where they once grew in abundance.

Male mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) eats rotten wood.

Apparently, some of the vegetation is consumed by gorillas not for food purposes, but to achieve a specific pharmacological effect. Thus, western gorillas eat cola fruits, which contain little protein but contain caffeine, which has a pronounced stimulating effect. They also eat iboga fruits, stems and roots, which contain ibogaine, a powerful hallucinogen and stimulant. In addition, there is evidence that aframomum seeds consumed by western lowland gorillas have beneficial effects on their cardiovascular system.

Female mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) looking for insects near a rotting tree trunk.

It has been noticed that all gorillas, regardless of age and gender, eat their own and sometimes other people’s excrement. This is most often observed after long periods of daytime rest during the rainy season - cold and damp weather, when a minimum of time is allocated for feeding and transitions. Coprophagy among gorillas is likely caused by a lack of nutrients, especially since vitamins, particularly vitamin B12, which are produced in the hindgut, are absorbed in the foregut. The excrement is consumed while still warm. The droppings of healthy gorillas are very dense and resemble horse apples in appearance and smell. It doesn't smear or stain the monkeys' fur. Like all apes and great apes, gorillas defecate right where they are at the moment. They constantly move on the ground and through trees, no longer in contact with their feces. The size of various animals can be judged by the size of the piles of droppings left behind.

Group of mountain gorillas ( Gorilla beringei beringei) extracts clay.

Trophic connections

By nature, gorillas are timid and reserved animals. Their main natural enemy is the leopard, which attacks mainly young monkeys, but the damage from it is insignificant. In most cases, the discovery of gorilla remains in leopard feces is explained not by active hunting of them, but by eating their corpses. In addition, in the lowlands of western equatorial Africa, including swamps, monkeys located near water are at risk of attack by crocodiles. Other animals of the tropical forests prefer not to meet with gorillas, and they also almost always do not pay any attention to them. Oddly enough, the exception is sometimes caterpillars and chameleons, which gorillas try to either knock down or carefully push aside. In addition, the cubs playfully chase small animals - from duiker to frogs - without the slightest intention of catching them. Gorillas get along absolutely calmly with their closest relatives, chimpanzees, in the same territory. Whenever possible, they avoid making contact with humans.

Territoriality

Gorillas are to some extent nomadic. However, their enormous size combined with a low-calorie diet means these animals spend many hours feeding each day. This, in turn, prevents them from traveling long distances. The feeding area and daily route are smaller in the east of equatorial Africa than in the west, because there are fewer species of fruit trees in the forests of the east. Compared to stems, leaves and other low-nutrient food, ripe fruits are a much more energy-efficient food. In the west, gorillas depend on them more, which means they must travel longer distances in search of them, since fruit trees are not found in large clusters, but are unevenly dispersed throughout the territory. Accordingly, the group cannot be too large, otherwise there will not be enough food for everyone. However, during the months when western gorillas rely more on low-nutrient but abundant food such as stems and leaves, their daily routes are shorter. Monkeys move much more actively in places where food resources are limited, or when they “go to explore” uncharted territories; Single males also travel longer distances. Sometimes the group moves straight through the thickets, but much more often its route runs along an intricate curve, describing circles and intersecting many times.

Group of Western Lowland Gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

In addition to the above, the size of the occupied areas may vary among different groups or change within the same community over the years. Settled in any area, gorillas eventually study it perfectly. Within its territory, the group moves, appearing without any pattern in various places at indefinite intervals. Often a family community has a kind of temporary center around which its activities are concentrated. Periodically, often depending on the season, this center moves to another location. Sometimes the group is divided into several parts, moving and feeding at a distance of several tens or hundreds of meters from each other. After some time, the animals are reunited again. In the east, such divisions occur less frequently and are more short-lived; This is obviously due to the greater availability of food. In the west, not only subgroups, but also individual individuals can move away from each other at a distance sometimes exceeding 500 m.

Mountain Gorilla Community ( Gorilla beringei beringei).

The short distance of the daily route means that gorillas cannot successfully defend their territory. Calculation shows that with an area of ​​5 sq. km, the daily route should be 8 km long, that is, approximately 4 times longer than the real one. Therefore, it is not surprising that the territories of neighboring family associations overlap to a significant extent. Although individual communities remain isolated, they are not averse to contact with neighbors. Many individuals from groups living nearby know each other well. When meeting, members of different communities usually do not pay any attention to strangers, although sometimes they can follow them with obvious interest. Sometimes two groups unite for a short time, for example, they spend the night peacefully, and in the morning they each go their separate ways. Sometimes, on the contrary, they stage aggressive demonstrations in front of each other, in rare cases ending in bloody clashes. One way or another, the community, apparently, does not strive for monopoly ownership of any piece of land and the food resources growing on it; conflicts between them have other reasons.

Schedule

Gorillas are active during the day. They wake up at 7-8 o'clock in the morning, during the first hour or two after sunrise (near the equator, the length of the day remains almost unchanged throughout the year). Having left their nests at night, grumbling and grunting, the monkeys slowly wander off in search of food. Each animal is so absorbed in filling its stomach that it pays no attention to anything else. It is typical for gorillas to sit and reach for food in all directions around them, then stand up, walk a few steps and sit down again. The gorillas are intently stuffing a bunch of greens into their mouths with one hand, while the other hand is already reaching out for a new portion. The animals feed in silence, only the crackling of breaking branches, slurping and occasional belching can be heard. Babies stay close to their mothers and, looking at them, learn to figure out what is edible and what is not. Thus, habits for certain foods are passed on from generation to generation. Feeding over an area of ​​several tens of square meters, gorillas often cannot see each other through dense bushes. However, they move from place to place so slowly that the chances of falling behind the group are very small. Behind the gorillas there are numerous traces - celery stubs and other food remains.

A group of mountain gorillas grazing ( Gorilla beringei beringei).

As the sun rises, the gorillas eat more and more slowly, gradually turning into satiated gourmets. They wander, now tearing off a leaf, now tearing off a piece of bark. In total, the morning meal takes about two hours, and usually between 9 and 10 o'clock the animals stop feeding. Between late morning and mid-afternoon is siesta time. The members of the community present a picture of complete contentment, lying around the dominant silver-backed male. This is especially noticeable if the warm rays of the sun warm their bodies. Sometimes gorillas sunbathe so passionately that even sweat appears on their faces. Some of them roll on the ground, turning over now on their backs, now on their bellies, now on their sides, with their arms and legs carelessly scattered; others sit leaning against tree trunks. Many of the positions adopted are reminiscent of human ones - gorillas stretch and yawn; sitting on a branch, dangling their legs and dangling them in the air; lie on your back with your hands under your head. The rest takes from 1 to 3 hours and is delayed even more on particularly hot days or, conversely, in bad weather, when there is heavy rain and hail in the mountains.

Day trip for a group of mountain gorillas ( Gorilla beringei beringei).

Gorillas do not like rainy weather. When it starts to rain, the animals sit on the ground, hunched over, heads down, upper limbs crossed over their chests, covering their shoulders with their palms. The monkeys that were in the trees come down. The babies return to their mothers, who hide them under their breasts. Sometimes two teenagers press against each other and freeze in this position. The entire group is apathetic and hardly reacts to anything. In general, it seems that gorillas are quite indifferent to where they are. They often sit directly in the pouring rain, although they can easily stay dry if they take a few steps and hide under a leaning tree trunk. It happens, however, that the entire community gathers under the protection of trees, jostling and crowding, with each animal trying to seize a drier place where it does not drip. And yet the same group that takes shelter one day is left out in the rain the next. Moreover, animals sitting in cozy dry places can crawl out of their shelters and make evening nests right in the open air, where they are watered with might and main by rain.

Male mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) waits out the rain.

After resting, the gorillas move to a new feeding area. It is in the afternoon, between 2 and 5 p.m., that the group covers most of the distance covered during the day. When moving, gorillas easily overcome various natural obstacles; some of them grab something edible along the way. Having arrived at the place, the monkeys eat for an hour or two and rest again. The rest is followed by a new feeding, which continues until dusk. Gorillas feed slowly and sit for a long time. Sometimes they begin to move actively. As the forest gets darker, their movements become more and more sluggish and they gradually gather around the leader. At about 6 pm, and sometimes even at 5 pm if it is very cloudy, the group begins to prepare for bed. Gorillas usually roost for the night where dusk finds them.

Male and female mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei) move to a new place.

With the onset of darkness, 10-11 hours after the morning rise, after a "tiring" day filled with food and rest, all activity ceases and the group falls into sleep. In most cases, its members spend the night only a few meters from each other, although sometimes some of them can stay at a distance of 20 m or even more. Sometimes some of the animals remain sleeping near the leader, while others go to the side, so that the sleeping ones are separated by a distance of 100 m. Gorillas sleep in various positions - on their backs; on your stomach, tucking your limbs under you; on your side, with your head in the crook of your arm; sitting, leaning against a tree trunk; dangling limbs from the nest. The animals are silent, only the rumbling of their stomachs or the sound of emitted gases can be heard. As far as we know, gorillas do not snore while they sleep. The male, when he is alarmed by something, sometimes beats his chest at night. Night sleep time is approximately 13 hours. In the morning the group will have breakfast and hit the road again.

Gorillas - a genus of apes of the hominid family, including two species: the western and eastern gorilla.
Squad: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Basic data:
Height: 1.65 - 1.75 meters, there is evidence that some males reach a height of about two meters.
The average weight of males is about 135 - 250 kilograms, females - 60 - 114 kilograms. They are rightfully considered the largest living primates.
As can be seen from these data, gorillas have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Moreover: it is expressed even in the slightly different structure of the skull of males and females.
Females mature at 10 - 12 years, males at 11 - 13. The first ovulation in females occurs at approximately 6 years. The menstrual cycle averages 30-33 days, pregnancy lasts 8.5 months, the weight of newborns is approximately two kilograms, and about four years pass between pregnancies.
The average lifespan of gorillas is 30 - 50 years.
Lifestyle
Gorillas live in family groups, including females, their cubs and one (rarely several) adult male. The male defends his group from predators and other males. In the latter case, the male, as a rule, is limited to only demonstrating force, without using it in practice. The demonstration of force occurs like this: the male rushes at the enemy, stopping abruptly in front of him, often getting up from all fours to his feet and hitting himself in the chest with his fists, while trying to escape, he catches up and bites (usually once - “to discourage him,” but the gorillas never again necessary, with fangs 5 ​​cm). Because of the latter feature, in some African tribes, being bitten by a gorilla was a disgrace, indicating that a person had chickened out and ran away.
Sometimes the male demonstrates strength for the sake of self-affirmation: at first he hoots muffledly, the hoot smoothly turns into a piercing cry, after which he gets to his feet and, hunched at the shoulders, beats his chest with his fists. Then he runs up, standing on two legs, gets down on all fours and runs further, breaking everything in his path, then stops and hits the ground with his palms.
As they grow older, the color of the fur on the male's back changes - from black to silver. Family groups are usually led by males with silver-colored fur on their backs. Male gorillas, as a rule, leave their native group upon reaching puberty.
They feed mainly on plants, sometimes they can eat insects; to compensate for the lack of minerals they eat some types of clay. Gorillas hardly need to drink, since their food contains enough water. They don't like water. To compensate for the lack of vitamins not synthesized by themselves, but synthesized by bacteria in their intestines, they can eat their own feces.

In the morning, gorillas eat, after which they leisurely walk through the forest. At noon, gorillas have a siesta - some build nests for the siesta, the rest simply lie on the ground.
At this time, mothers clean the fur of their cubs, adults and older cubs check and clean each other's skin, but less actively and carefully than other primates.
First, the male builds a nest for sleeping, and other members of the group follow his example. Because of its large weight, the male builds a ground nest by stacking branches and bending grass stems inward at different angles. The rest sometimes spend the night in trees. At night the whole group sleeps.
The western gorilla inhabits lowland rainforests with dense grass floors and swampy areas, while the eastern gorilla lives in lowland and montane subalpine forests with dense grass floors. Both species of gorillas live in Africa.
Gorillas, along with chimpanzees and orangutans, are genetically closest to humans compared to other primates.
Population conservation

The gorilla population is suffering from several factors:
poaching - gorillas are hunted for meat and trophies, deforestation, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, civil wars in the countries in which they live.
To preserve the number of gorillas, national parks have been created and special programs have been developed.