Female Mountain gorillas reach sexual maturity before male gorillas they mature between the age of 10-12 years old while males reach sexual maturity from 11-13 years of age though females mature earlier even sometimes they can have their first ovulation circle at 8 years they do not breed until they are 10 years and above.
Female Mountain gorillas produce 1 off spring per delivery and sometimes produce twins; the recurring productive cycle is 28-33 days. After the first ovulation circle mountain gorillas have to wait for a two year period to breed an infant. Gorillas are polygamous animals, the dominating silver back can access all the females in the group, when the females are on heat they follow up the male gorillas and there is always no physical evidence showing they are on heat.
Female mountain gorillas go on heat only for only 1-2 days in a month they attract the males by some body movements, approaching the Silverback with uninterrupted eye contact and puckering lips and if they male is not reacting they go closer to even touch him or even hit the ground to draw attention from the male gorilla.
Gorillas can mate any time of the year and the gestation period is 8.5 months also like humans and they mostly produce during night time. After delivery a gorilla will take 4 years or more to conceive again hence they have low birth rates. Infant gorillas are born weighing 2-3 kilograms and vulnerable just like human babies, when they are born the mother caries and has to take good care of them until the 3 months when they can sit upright and can walk on their own at 6 months though they mostly clip on their mothers backs all the time.
Mountain gorillas are an endangered species of primates spread across four national parks in Africa that is Virunga national park, Volcanoes national park, Mgahinga national park and Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. This parks straddle within Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic republic of Congo.
All the above mentioned national parks offer visitors a unique wilderness experience with the great apes, gorilla trekking is the most expensive tourist activity in Africa yet the most fascinating and thrilling experience worth a life time. You will have an hour of observation immediately after finding gorillas during the trek. The cost of gorilla trekking defers from each country, Uganda charges $600, and Congo charges $400 per person and Rwanda offering the most expensive at $1500 per person.
