Some Fun Info and Facts About Gorillas
for Kids Big and Small!

• A Gorilla is a primate.
• A Human is a primate.
• A Monkey is a primate.
• Great Apes are primates.

What is a primate?

The dictionary says primates are the "highest" form of mammals, but since elephants, dolphins and whales (and even gray parrots!) are pretty smart and advanced too, we’d like to find another definition for a primate.  Can you help? Here’s what we know:

There are over 230 primate species!  Primates are:

• Mammals - warm blooded, with fur or hair, nursed by mother’s milk and having a rather long childhood, compared to other animals
• Vertebrates - with a hard skeleton to protect their internal organs
• Divided into: Prosimians, Old World Monkeys, New World Monkeys, Apes and Humans.
• Known for their flexible hands and feet, that can grasp and have fingernails, not claws and their eyes, which are facing forward (ie: not on the sides of their heads, like horses).

Great Apes include:

• Gorillas
• Orangutans
• Chimpanzees (the "common" chimp: pan troglodytes)
• Bonobos (the "pygmy" chimp: pan paniscus)

Three of the four species of Great Apes live in Africa. What’s the other one and where do they live?

It’s the Orangutan, and they live in Asia, specifically Borneo and Sumatra

Lesser (now referred to as "Smaller" ) Apes are primates too. What are the best known Smaller Apes?

Gibbons and Siamangs. Gibbons are also from Asia.

What’s one of the main differences between apes and monkeys?

Monkeys have tails; apes do not.

There are three sub-species of gorillas:

1. Western Lowland Gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). These are the kinds you see in zoos today. They are the smallest of the sub-species with short blackish hair (sometimes reddish brown on the head) and live mainly in forested areas of the Central African Republic, the Congo, Cameroon and Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.
2. Eastern Lowland Gorillas (gorilla gorilla graueri). There are currently 4 Eastern Lowland gorillas in captivity; three at the zoo in Antwerp, Belgium, and one in Houston, TX. The have a narrower face and broader chest than the western lowland gorillas and shorter hair like their western cousins, but they are slightly larger. They live mostly in eastern Zaire.
3. Mountain Gorillas (gorilla gorilla beringei). There are NO mountain gorillas in captivity today. These are the largest, gorillas with the longest hair (to keep them warm in their cooler mountainous habitat!). These are also the rarest gorillas, which Dian Fossey and many other scientists studied in Rwanda; they also live in Uganda and eastern Zaire.

Can you fill in the blanks with the proper sub-species of gorilla?

• There are about 4,000 _____________ gorillas left in the wild.
• There are about 35,000 ____________ gorillas left in the wild.
• There are about 600  ______________ gorillas left in the wild.

Eastern Lowland, Western Lowland, Mountain. These numbers are rough estimates and may have changed.

Flash!! May 2000 - at the Brookfield Zoo Ape Conference, the following information was presented. Scientists are still discussing the merits of this re-classification based on new evidence. Species #1:  Eastern Gorillas:  What used to be called “Mountain Gorillas” a)  subspecies: gorilla beringei beringei – found in the Virungas, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.  NONE in captivity.  These are the gorillas Dian Fossey studied and who were featured in the movies and her book entitled “Gorillas in the Mist”   Probably only about 300 of these remain. b)  subspecies:  gorilla beringei bwindi (suggested name, not official) – found in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.  Probably only about 300 of these remain. c)  subspecies: gorilla beringei graueri  subspecies: gorilla beringei graueri – formerly known as “eastern lowland gorillas” and now seriously imperiled due to the Crisis in the Congo.  There are only 4 in captivity – 3 in Antwerp, Belgium and 1 in Houston, Texas.  No one is sure how many of this subspecies remain, due to the current war in their home, but numbers are plummeting fast, and are probably now well under their last estimate of 5,000.  Species #2:  Western Gorillas:  What used to be called “Lowland Gorillas” a)   subspecies:  gorilla gorilla gorilla – Found in Western and Central Africa, like Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.  These are the kinds found in zoos. No one seems to know how many of these exist, but the best guess is about 10,000, plus about 750 in captivity. b)   subspecies:  gorilla gorilla diehli – The most endangered gorilla – indeed primate – on the planet, known as the Cross River gorilla, found only in a tiny part of northern Nigeria.  Limbe Wildlife Center’s oldest gorilla, Nyango, has been confirmed as a Cross River gorilla, through DNA tests.  Only about 100-150 are thought to exist in the wild.

Some Gorilla Facts and Factoids:

• A mature male gorilla is called a silverback. This refers to the silver-colored hair covering his back, which occurs when he’s about 10-12 years old.

• Gorillas live in social, family groups, with an adult male leader, the silverback, and his harem of females and their offspring.

• In the wild, when males mature they are often driven out of their family group to find their own females and start their own groups. Sometimes bachelor groups are formed, where a group of adult male gorillas will stay together for several months or longer.

• In the wild, mature females will often be lured away from their family group by one of these wandering bachelor gorillas, and start their own group and family. This is nature’s way of avoiding inbreeding, which could occur if a youngster stayed in their family group after reaching sexual maturity.

• Gorillas are born after approximately 9 months of gestation, like humans.

• A young male (about 8 to 10 years old) is called a blackback. He’s almost as big as a silverback, but his hair hasn’t turned silvery yet, and he still has a lot to learn.

• Juveniles usually refer to gorillas ranging in ages from 2 to 8 years old, of either gender.

• Baby gorillas stay with their mothers until they are about 2 to 3 years old, nursing all the time, but trying solid foods when they’re about 6 months old.

• Newborn baby gorillas cling to their mother’s hair immediately, and a mom will continue to hold her baby all the time for about the first 4 months of life!

• Everyone has his/her place in a gorilla group. The dominant silverback is the boss or the leader, and he is usually the most experienced and knowledgeable of the gorillas. Often he has younger or less dominant silverbacks in his group, who act as guards or sentries, to protect the group or bring up the rear when the group travels following the dominant silverback.

• Among the adult females, there is usually a dominant female as well, who is often the silverback’s favorite and the mother of a lot of his offspring. She may be small or large and her "dominance" depends a lot on her personality and experience. When a female has a baby, her ranking usually goes up and females without babies are generally the lowest ranking of the group.

• In zoos, the struggle to be the dominant silverback can lead to problems for zoo keepers, since there often isn’t enough room for two or more large silverbacks to peacefully co-exist in captivity. In the wild, if two silverbacks "argue" one will usually leave the group and move on to form his own group. In captivity humans control who is in a gorilla group, and many times gorillas are moved when they reach maturity to prevent in-breeding or strife between adult males.

• Some gorillas born in zoos cannot be raised by their gorilla mothers for various reasons. These gorillas are then hand-reared instead of mother-reared.  In the past almost every gorilla baby was routinely taken away from its mother by zoos, who didn’t think gorillas knew how to be good parents. Today we know this is NOT true, and that gorillas, like humans and other animals, learn by example and watching others.

• Hand-reared gorilla infants are taken care of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by zoo keepers and staff, who try to keep the baby warm, fed and stimulated, just like its gorilla mother would do if it were being mother-reared. It’s fun but long, hard and exhausting work!!

• Today most zoos are trying to get baby gorillas back in with gorilla groups as soon as possible, sometimes using an adult female gorilla as a "surrogate" parent. This surrogate will take care of and protect the young gorilla and introduce it to the other gorillas. Sometimes surrogate gorillas in zoos are gorillas who can or have not had their own babies, so they are especially fond of having the opportunity to have a baby, even if they didn’t give birth to it!

Do Gorillas Really Talk to Humans and Each Other?

Scientists are still debating whether or not other animals use real "language" but there is no doubt that gorillas and most every animal has their own unique way of communicating with each other and the world around them. When Jane met Koko in 1989, she taught herself some ASL (American Sign Language), so Koko wouldn’t think she was stupid! Jane signed "I love gorillas" and Koko replied "Love gorillas YOU!" which we video-taped so we could see it was really very clear exactly what Koko signed.

In zoos and in the wild, gorillas communicate with each other using various sounds, which are soft grunts, purrs, rumbles, coughs, bark and grumbles and chestbeats. Unlike chimpanzees, who can be very noisy, gorillas are very quiet animals.

• When a gorilla is happy (often when eating a favorite food), he purrs - it almost sounds like a human going "Mmmmmm, good!" like the soup commercial!

• When a gorilla is upset, he might cough or bark. Sometimes this sounds like a human warning another by saying "uh, uh, ahhh!!"

• When a gorilla is laughing he might rumble a sound that almost sounds like a soft version of a human saying "hah-hah-hah", with a quick intake of air blowing in and out - almost like he’s hyperventilating instead of laughing!

• Play-faces are often seen when gorillas play, wrestle or chase each other - this is a wide open mouth or smile, that some people confuse with fighting.

• Chestbeats are made for all sorts of reasons, from a gorilla feeling good on a sunny day, to a gorilla showing off, to a gorilla warning someone that he’s there and watching. Little baby gorillas learn to chestbeat and juveniles often chestbeat as a part of their play and games.

• A really upset gorilla may scream, much like high-pitched human scream. Since gorillas rarely get really upset, these screams are rare, thank goodness!

• Baby gorillas may scream or whimper if left alone by their mother’s or if they’re feeling scared. But mom’s usually right there to comfort her baby, so once again, these sounds are rare too!

What’s your Gorilla IQ?

True or False?

• Gorillas are vegetarians (they don’t eat meat).
• Gorillas live in family groups.
• Gorillas are skilled hunters of other animals.
• Gorillas love to play.
• Gorillas are aggressive and ferocious.
• Male gorillas are called "silverbacks" when they reach maturity.
• Gorillas are gentle and peace-loving animals.
• Female gorillas are called "graybacks" when they reach maturity.
• King Kong was a real gorilla.
• Gorillas hatch from eggs like lizards.
• Gorillas are mammals.
• Male gorillas are larger than female gorillas.
• Gorillas are noisy animals.

IQ Test Answers:

• Gorillas are vegetarians (they don’t eat meat). TRUE.
• Gorillas live in family groups. TRUE.
• Gorillas are skilled hunters of other animals. FALSE!!
• Gorillas love to play. TRUE.
• Gorillas are aggressive and ferocious. FALSE!!
• Male gorillas are called "silverbacks" when they reach maturity. TRUE.
• Gorillas are gentle and peace-loving animals. TRUE
• Female gorillas are called "graybacks" when they reach maturity. FALSE.!!
• King Kong was a real gorilla. FALSE!!!
• Gorillas hatch from eggs like lizards. FALSE!!
• Gorillas are mammals. TRUE.
• Male gorillas are larger than female gorillas. TRUE.
• Gorillas are noisy animals. FALSE.