Western lowland gorilla - Wikipedia. The western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is one of two subspecies of the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) that lives in montane, primary and secondary forests and lowland swamps in central Africa in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla most often found in zoos. This species of gorillas exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism. They possess no tails and have jet black skin along with coarse black hair that covers their entire body except for the face, ears, hands, and feet. The hair on the back and rump of males takes on a grey coloration and is also lost as they get progressively older. This coloration is the reason why older males are known as . Western lowland gorilla groups travel within a home range averaging 3–18 sq mi (7.8–46.6 km 2). Gorillas do not display territorial behavior, and neighboring. O nama >> O kapetanu i posadi O kapetanu i posadi. Learn all you wanted to know about mountain gorillas with pictures, videos, photos, facts, and news from National Geographic. The fur of the mountain gorilla, often thicker and longer than that of other gorilla species, enables them to live in colder temperatures. Gorillas can be identified. Mountain Gorilla Rangers Gorillas face peril Fewer than 900 mountain gorillas exist today. Mountain gorillas remain exceedingly endangered and live in only one area. You are now subscribed to Gorillaz. S.O.S Gorilla - The Gorilla conservation project. The gorillas, especially the small populations like the mountain gorillas, are on the verge of extinction. Their hands are proportionately large with nails on all digits, similar to that of a human's, and very large thumbs. They have short muzzles, a prominent brow ridge, large nostrils, and small eyes and ears. Other features are large muscles in the jaw region along with broad and strong teeth. Among these teeth are strong sets of frontal canines, and large molars in the back of the mouth for grinding vegetables. Western gorillas frequently stand upright, but walk in a hunched, quadrupedal fashion, with hands curled and knuckles touching the ground. This style of movement requires long arms, which works for western gorillas because the arm span of gorillas is larger than their standing height. The average size of the male western lowland gorilla's reproductive organ is typically between 1. Behavior. Gorillas do not display territorial behavior, and neighboring groups often overlap ranges. Gorillas normally travel 0. Populations feeding on high- energy foods that vary spatially and seasonally tend to have greater day ranges than those feeding on lower- quality but more consistently available foods. Larger groups travel greater distances in order to obtain sufficient food. Before reaching the age of sexual maturity, males leave their natal group and go through a . Gorillaz - O Green World (Live on Letterman) - Duration: 5 minutes, 8 seconds. 820,733 views; 6 years ago; 4:02. Play next; Play now; Gorillaz - Dirty Harry. The critically endangered mountain gorilla population is threatened by habitat loss, poaching, disease and war. Learn more about what WWF is doing to. The Gorilla conservation project. Help gorillas buying a piece of a picture. S.O.S Gorilla The internet project in support of mountain Gorillas. Home; News; Our Friends. It was also found that males like to settle with other male members of their family. Their breeding groups consist of one silverback male, three adult females and their offspring. Females tend to make bonds with other females in their natal group only, but rather form strong bonds with males. Males also compete aggressively with each other for contact with females. In cases where there are more than one silverback males in a group, they are most likely father and son. Groups containing only one male are believed to be the basic unit of the social group, gradually growing in size due to reproduction and new members migrating in. In the study done at Lope, gorillas harvest most of their food arboreally, but less than half of their night nests are built in trees. Western lowland gorillas live in the smallest family groups of all gorillas, with an average of 4 to 8 members in each. The leader (the silverback) organizes group activities, like eating, nesting, and traveling in their home range. Those who challenge this alpha male are apt to be cowed by impressive shows of physical power. He may stand upright, throw things, make aggressive charges, and pound his huge chest while barking out powerful hoots or unleashing a frightening roar. Despite these displays and the animals' obvious physical power, gorillas are generally calm and nonaggressive unless they are disturbed. Young gorillas, from three to six years old, remind human observers of children. Much of their day is spent in play, climbing trees, chasing one another, and swinging from branches. In gorillas, such common aberrant behaviors include eating disorders. A particular abnormal behavior is hair- plucking, which occurs across many species of mammals and birds. Studies made on the topic show that of all the western lowland gorillas housed in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) population, 1. Individual gorillas, particularly those of a more solitary nature, are more likely to self- pluck using their fingers and pick up this behavior if they were exposed to a group member that plucked their hair as a youngster and not yet mature gorilla. Unlike their powerful parents, newborns are tiny. These infants ride on their mothers' backs from the age of four months through the first two or three years of their lives. This pattern is likely to result from selective pressures on females to have males at a time when they can provision them most effectively, as male reproductive success probably varies more than that of females and depends more on the maternal role. Three out of four females have been observed to engaged in sexual behavior while pregnant and two out of three females have been observed to engage in sexual behavior while lactating. Females are significantly more likely to engage and participate in sexual behavior and activity on a day when another female is sexually active. It has been found that female western lowland gorillas participate in non- reproductive sexual behavior in order to increase her reproductive success through sexual competition. By increasing the female. They are hunted illegally for their skins and meat in Africa and captured to be sold to zoos. While defended as being economically profitable for restaurants and local people, it is a large contributor to the endangered status of the western lowland gorilla. They are also seen as a crop pest in western Africa because they raid native plantations and therefore destroy what would have otherwise been valuable crops. Such factors include deforestation, farming, grazing, and the expanding human settlements that cause forest loss. There is a correlation between human intervention in the wild with the destruction of habitats and increase in bushmeat hunting. Generally, female gorillas mature at 1. Of one half of captive females of viable reproductive age, approximately only 3. The long, narrow, bony pelvis of the great apes, which further contributes to the potentially long distance from the apex of the vagina to the ovaries and therefore decreases the chance of successful fertilization. However, these non- reproductive gorillas may prove to be a valuable resource since the use of assisted reproductive techniques aid in the maintaining of genetic diversity in the limited populations in zoos. While the use and manufacture of tools to extract ants and termites is a well- documented behavior in wild chimpanzees, it has never been observed in other great apes in their natural habitat and never seen to be done by other primates in captivity. In terms of manufacturing tools for the use of extracting for western lowland gorillas, gorillas are able to adapt tools to a particular use by selecting branches, remove projections such as leaves and bark, and adapting their length to the depth of the holes. It appears that they also anticipate the use of the tool since they begin with biggest sticks available and progressively modify it until it is the perfect fit for inserting into a hole that contains food. This demonstrates the gorillas' acquisition of high level sensorimotor intelligence similar to that of young human children. In 2. 00. 9, there was a western lowland gorilla at Buffalo zoo that actually used a bucket to collect water. Most notably, an experiment was conducted at Buffalo Zoological Gardens from 1. April 2. 01. 0 to 2. June 2. 01. 0 relating to this incident. The experiment involved one adult male gorilla and three adult female gorillas given five gallon buckets near a standing pool. Two of the younger female gorillas were able to successfully fill the buckets with water. This is the first record of gorillas spontaneously using tools to drink in zoos. What should be worth noting is that the environment of the zoo may affect the behavior of the gorillas. One gorilla, Koko, mastered more than 1,0. There has been a study examining the ability of western lowland gorillas to give to and exchange with humans. This involved humans holding objects such as fruit, leaves or peanuts in one hand. Once the gorillas had given twigs to the humans, they would receive one of these objects. If the gorillas did not give them a twig, they would not get their desired object. The gorillas were shown to quickly learn about receiving rewards as mistakes made by the gorillas in the beginning of the experiments gradually decreased. They live in primary and secondary lowland tropical forests that have elevations that extend from sea level up to 1,3. The average amount of rainfall in the areas where western lowland gorillas typically reside is about 1,5. August and November. Western lowland gorillas are not typically observed in areas that are close to human settlements and villages. They have been known to avoid areas with roads and farms that show signs of human activity. These gorillas favor areas where edible plants are more copious. Swamp forests are now considered important feeding areas and habitats for the western lowland gorilla. These areas support the gorillas in both the wet and the dry season of the forest. The forests of the Republic of Congo serve as protection to the gorillas with the isolation of the large swampy forest areas. Logging also destroys gorilla habitats. Although logging diminishes gorilla habitats, it may also provide for increased herbaceous vegetation as a result of gaps in the tree cover. Destruction of gorilla habitat may harm the overall forest ecosystem. Western lowland gorillas are seed dispersers, which mean they carry seeds from one place to another, and this trait is beneficial to many of the animals in the forest. Therefore, if there are no western lowland gorillas to disperse the needed seeds to other animals, not only will the gorillas become extinct but so will many other animals, which could over time destroy an entire ecosystem. While in the dry season, there is a decrease in the consumption of fleshy fruits, but they still continue to eat other kinds of fruits.
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