![]() ![]() All of those estimates were based on traditional census methods using dung samples collected at night nests. The 2006 census at Bwindi indicated a population of 340 gorillas, representing a 6% increase in total population size since 2002 and a 12% increase from 320 individuals in 1997. ![]() The 2003 census had estimated the Virunga gorilla population to be 380 individuals which represented a 17% increase in the total population since 1989 when there were 320 individuals The population has almost doubled since its nadir in 1981, when a census estimated that only 254 gorillas remained. In December 2010 the official website of Virunga National Park announced that "the number of mountain gorillas living in the tri-national forested area of which Virunga forms a part, has increased by 26.3% over the last seven years - an average growth rate of 3.7% per annum." The 2010 census estimated that 480 mountain gorillas inhabited the region. Three more – infants who suffered a traumatic poaching experience, injuries from snares, and/or losing their mothers in brutal killings – are currently in care of the Senkwekwe Centre orphanage in the DR of Congo. The overall population is now believed to be at least 880 individuals. They leave their sleeping sites when the sun rises at around 6 am, except when it is cold and overcast then they often stay longer in their nests.Ĭonservation efforts have led to an increase in overall population of the mountain gorilla in the Virungas and at Bwindi. Only infants sleep in the same nest as their mothers. Each gorilla builds a nest from surrounding vegetation to sleep in, constructing a new one every evening. It forages in early morning, rests during the late morning and around midday, and in the afternoon it forages again before resting at night. Many of these hours are spent eating, as large quantities of food are needed to sustain its massive bulk. The mountain gorilla is diurnal, most active between 6:00 a.m. ![]() It moves by knuckle-walking, supporting its weight on the backs of its curved fingers rather than its palms. Like all great apes other than humans, its arms are longer than its legs. However, it will climb into fruiting trees if the branches can carry its weight, and it is capable of running bipedally up to 6 m. The mountain gorilla is primarily terrestrial and quadrupedal. The heaviest was a 1.83 m silverback shot in Ambam, Cameroon which weighed about 266 kg. There's an unconfirmed record of another individual, shot in 1932, that was 2.06 m tall. The tallest silverback recorded was a 1.94 m individual shot in Alimbongo, northern Kivu in May 1938. Fully erect, males reach 1.9 m in height, with an arm span of 2.3 m and weigh 220 kg. The hair on their backs is shorter than on most other body parts, and their arm hair is especially long. Like all gorillas they feature dark brown eyes framed by a black ring around the iris.Īdult males are called silverbacks because a saddle of gray or silver-colored hair develops on their backs with age. Adult females also have these crests, but they are less pronounced. These crests anchor the powerful temporalis muscles, which attach to the lower jaw. Adult males have more pronounced bony crests on the top and back of their skulls, giving their heads a more conical shape. This subspecies is on average the second largest species of primate only the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, the other subspecies of Eastern Gorilla, is larger. Males, at a mean weight of 195 kg and upright standing height of 150 cm usually weigh twice as much as the females, at a mean of 100 kg and a height of 130 cm. Gorillas can be identified by nose prints unique to each individual. The fur of the mountain gorilla, often thicker and longer than that of other gorilla species, enables them to live in colder temperatures. ![]()
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