Gorilla behavior

Gorillas are shy gentle animals, that weren't discovered until 1847 in Central Africa. They are harmless and live life normally. They are the largest primates and are members of the great apes. In fact in the nation of Rwanda they honor gorillas by putting a picture of a gorilla on their money. They rarely harm or fight unless something is done to them. A gorilla's day begins about an hour after sunrise. That means that the gorilla starts to eat and travel an hour after sunrise. Gorillas live an interesting life.

Gorillas live in groups of usually 7-17 gorillas of different sizes. They aren't as independent as chimpanzees though and have better memory than chimpanzees. The chief protector also known as the Silverback decides where the group goes and when they eat. It is rare for gorilla groups to fight.

They usually spend their days in dense jungles. Gorillas mostly live in Central Africa or dense jungles.

"Skeleton of human (1) and gorilla (2), unnaturall...

Mountain gorillas, Rwanda

Western Lowland Gorilla at the Bronx Zoo

In the middle of the day each gorilla makes a nest to sleep in but the baby just snuggles in with its mother. When gorillas sleep, they sleep on their sides or stomachs. Gorillas spend 30% of the day eating, 40% of the day resting and 30% traveling. They mainly eat plants and fruits. When it finds a fruit bush it carefully pulls out the fruit. It hardly ever eats the whole bush. They usually leaves foliage so more plants can grow.

Normally gorillas walk on all fours and hardly ever on two. When they walk they lean over and put most of their weight on their knuckles. Gorillas don't climb trees that often but when it does, it climbs down tree feet first. They can't swim. There are 3 kinds of gorillas, the western lowland, mountain and the eastern lowland. There are...