29 Facts About Mountain Gorillas

There are many interesting facts about mountain gorillas in Africa. Mountain gorillas live in the Virunga Conservation Area and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

The Virunga area is shared by three parks: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Virunga National Park in Congo. All these parks sit on the slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes.

Each of the three countries charges a different price to trek mountain gorillas, but the experience is widely considered worth the cost. A gorilla permit costs $800 in Uganda, $400 in Congo, and $1,500 in Rwanda.

29 Mountain Gorilla Facts You Should Know

1. There are slightly more than 1,000 mountain gorillas left in the world.
2. Male mountain gorillas are heavier than females. Males can weigh up to 180 kilograms, while females weigh about 90 kilograms.
3. When born, baby gorillas are weak and weigh about 4 pounds. They stay close to their mothers and ride on their backs until they are 3 or 4 years old, feeding on their mother’s milk until they grow older.
4. Female gorillas start giving birth at around 10 years old and, over their lifetime, can give birth to 2 to 6 babies. Pregnancy lasts 8 to 9 months.
5. The dominant silverback leads the group and decides on daily activities, protecting the group even if it means risking his own life.
6. Mountain gorillas are gentle and shy, and only become aggressive when they feel threatened. If they charge, they may grunt, roar, beat their chests, and tear plants to scare off the threat. Female gorillas also defend their young, even to the point of risking their own lives.
7. Mountain gorillas live only in the Virunga Conservation Area and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
8. They share over 98% of their DNA with humans, making them very close relatives, second only to chimpanzees.
9. Mountain gorillas can live up to 54 years, though they cannot survive in captivity.
10. As male gorillas grow, the hair on their backs turns silver-grey, which is why they’re called silverbacks.
11. Gorillas make new nests every evening to sleep in, and typically only reuse the same nest if it’s very cold or has rained.
12. Mountain gorillas are the largest primates in the world.
13. They can cry when hurt and laugh when tickled, showing emotional responses much like humans.
14. Mountain gorillas do not need to drink water often, since most of the food they eat already contains water.
15. They are very intelligent, and some have even learned sign language to interact with humans.
16. Male gorillas can eat over 49 pounds of plants every day, with females eating somewhat less.
17. Gorillas walk using all four limbs, and their front limbs are longer and stronger than their back limbs.
18. They live in groups of 5 to 30 members, led by a silverback, and some groups stay together for more than 20 years.
19. Mountain gorillas mostly eat plants, but may occasionally eat small amounts of meat as well.
20. For reasons not fully understood, mountain gorillas seem to fear reptiles like chameleons and caterpillars, and young gorillas often avoid them despite their general curiosity about crawling things.
21. Mountain gorillas cannot survive long in zoos. Gorillas seen in zoos are typically lowland gorillas, since mountain gorillas only live in high mountain habitats.
22. They don’t rely solely on vocal sounds to communicate, also using body gestures to pass messages to one another.
23. Mountain gorillas do not have a fixed mating season, so babies can be born at any time of year.
24. They are nomadic, moving daily in search of food and fruit, and rarely sleep in the same spot twice.
25. Mountain gorillas wake up early, around 6 a.m., to look for food. They rest around midday, then continue feeding until about 6 p.m. before building nests to sleep in for the night.
26. They use tools like sticks and branches to extract insects from the ground or tree holes.
27. Mountain gorillas face significant threats from human activities, including poaching and the loss of their natural habitat.
28. Mountain gorillas cannot survive outside their forest homes.
29. The heaviest silverback ever recorded weighed 225 kilograms.

Ready to see mountain gorillas for yourself? Explore our gorilla trekking tours to start planning your trip.