Appearance

These massive beasts range in size from 150 centimeters for females and 185 for males. Female's muscular bodies weigh about 70-114 kilograms and an average of 160 kilograms for the males. The males have sharp canine teeth like dogs. Their coats are actually very soft not coarse like some people would think. Their fur color is usually a black but some gorillas are blue. They have long arms but very short hind legs for galloping around on their hands. As they grow old in age on their back forms a patch of silver or gray hair.

Range

Gorillas are living in the Virunga voleanes that separate Zaire from Rwanda and Uganda.

Habitat

They inhabit the Montane Cloud forest. Sometimes the pandas will go to the Afro-Alpine meadows where temperatures at night are sub-freezing and there is not as much food.

Food/Diet

Occasionally they eat invertebrates but mainly the gorillas will only eat roots, leaves, stems, the pith of herbs, shrubs, and just like the Giant Panda bamboo. To spice their life these gorillas often eat amounts of bark, wood, flowers, fruit, fungi, gorilla dung, and other kind of herbs.

Breeding

Females may die with only 2-6 offspring over 40 years. Males that have harems of 3-4 females increase by 10-20 offspring in 50 years. They don't sexually mature until about their late teens. The gestation period is 8 1/2 months. Weaning does not occur the cubs are about 3 years old.

Status

These mountain gorillas are highly endangered because of habitat destroying and severe poaching pressures, even though the law protects the gorillas.

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