19+ Best Gorilla Facts To Discover the World of the Largest Primates

Mammals have several variants in their family. Gorillas are one of the largest mammals in the ape family. The scientific name of a gorilla is the genus gorilla. This animal can act like a human being.

Thus, you may get curious about it every now and then. Here are some interesting yet useful facts about gorillas that can help you accurately understand a gorilla.

Interesting Gorillas Facts

Their strength:

Gorilla Their Strength

Gorillas generally hold their strength in their upper body part. They are six times stronger than human beings.

They carry their massive body weight with the help of their arms, back, and chest. The huge size and heavier body weight provide them enough strength to survive. The strength of a gorilla can beat any strong animal with ease.   

Ability to build a troop:

Gorilla Ability To Build A Troop

We are social animals. This is why we always try to get attached to our community. Gorillas also build troops or teams like human beings.

They usually stay with kids, male, female, and aged gorillas. The older gorillas set a rule for the younger ones. They follow those rules to live.    

Duration of pregnancy:

Gorilla Duration Of Pregnancy

The pregnancy period for a female gorilla is 8.5 months. Human babies must stay for almost 9 months in their mother’s womb.

This is how gorillas are similar to human beings in this way. Gorillas also carry only one infant in most cases. They can give birth to almost 3-4 babies in their lifetime.      

The unique length of their arms:

Gorilla Length Of Their Arms

Gorillas have longer arms compared to their legs. This is why they use their arms to walk or jump. They cannot use their fingers quite easily. The tips of their fingers are almost non-usable. They can walk with their legs for 10 feet.

After that, they have to use their arm for more support. This specific feature makes them superior apes quite easily. The walking style of a gorilla is well-known as knuckle-walking.

Gorilla’s Nose:

Gorillas Nose

Gorillas don’t have sharp noses like human beings. They do not even have any particular shape for their nose. It is made of only a few wrinkles.

The nose helps them to sniff any upcoming danger for sure. They also usually use their nose to select their appropriate food from the jungle.   

Dentition:

Gorilla Dentition

They have 32 teeth like us. According to their adaptation, they have stronger teeth than us.

They can also use their teeth to fight against their enemies for sure. This is why their teeth’ strength is much better than humans’.  

Size:

Gorilla Size

On average, male adult gorillas are 1.8 m long, and their overall body weight is about 170 kg. Similarly, female adult gorillas are 1.5 m long, and their body weight is 72 kg. However, eastern lowland gorillas are a little bigger than western communities.   

Hands and feet:

Gorilla Hands And Feet

The shape of their hands and feet is almost similar to ours. However, they cannot hold fruits, stones, or any other objects with their hands.

They even cannot throw things with their hands. Besides, their feet are a little different from human beings. 

Tail:

The tail is missing in gorillas like human beings and chimpanzees. Only the end part of their backbone is there to strengthen their whole body.

The purpose of the tail is almost none in both ours and the gorilla’s lifestyle. This is why this body part is not there for sure.

Primary species of gorilla:

Primary Species Of Gorilla

Most mammals have several species in their family. However, gorillas have only two main species in their families for sure.

One is a western long-land gorilla, and the other is a cross-river gorilla. Apart from this, you may surely find mountain gorillas and their variants in extremely hilly areas. 

Food habit:

Gorilla Food Habit

Gorillas are herbivores. They eat only vegetarian food to live. Sometimes, they intake soil and ash to boost their digestive systems naturally.

They prefer mainly vegetables to satisfy their hunger for sure. Apart from this, they can also go for leaves, fruits, and many other vegetarian options with ease.    

Required space to live:

Gorilla Required Space To Live

As you already know, gorillas live in groups like human beings. This is why each group of gorillas needs a specific area to build their dwelling area.

An average-sized gorilla group needs almost 2-40 square KM area to live properly. Thus, the whole gorilla territory needs a proper area to expand its family accurately.    

Preparing a sleeping nest:

Gorilla Preparing A Sleeping Nest

In the daytime or active time, gorillas wander in the ground every now and then. While resting or enjoying a short nap, they prefer to prepare a nest on trees or lands.

In this scenario, they prefer to make their nest on their own. Each gorilla rests in their individual nest for sure.

The appetite of gorilla:

Gorillas can eat all day long. They have a good digestive system to digest much food without issues.

Most of their foods belong to vegetables only. Apart from this, they can also eat ants, snails, and many other animals to intake a good source of calcium.

Beating their chest:

Gorilla Beating Their Chest

When gorillas get curious about something, they usually make short barks to express their curiosity to other troop members.

Apart from this, the male gorillas beat their chest after observing any rivals immediately. This is why we observe gorillas beating their chest as their signature move in most channels.

The lifespan of gorillas:

Gorillas can live up to 35-40 years. They complete their infant age at 3. After completing 8-12 years of their age, they become an adult. After that, they start developing themselves to achieve the silverback for sure.

According to this point of view, gorillas live a similar lifestyle to human beings. The whole gorilla team follows the older members’ instructions like us only.   

Similarity with a human being:

We are sharing 95-98% of our DNA with gorillas. This is why they are almost like us. They have various feelings which are quite improved than any other mammals. Besides, they can easily walk on two legs like us. 

Brain function

Gorilla Brain Function

According to the experts, gorillas can use bamboo as a ladder to help their infants while climbing. They also use sticks to measure the depth of any particular smaller pool.

Besides, this mammal’s amazing communication ability indicates its intelligence. They can easily use almost 25 sounds to express their feelings differently.

Threaten for gorillas 

Several forests are becoming the cultivation area for the human population. Thus, the required space for gorillas is decreasing day by day. Thus, the existence of gorillas is at high risk nowadays.

However, most countries are paying attention to this matter to reserve gorillas more smartly. This is how the threats to gorillas can be reduced gradually.  

These are some noticeable facts about gorillas that can help you know more about these mammals. With the help of these points as mentioned above, you can easily receive a proper idea about gorillas.

Gorilla Facts
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