Gorillas are the largest from the primates and also the most terrestrial from the apes. Females and young spend the night inside a nest of leaves up in a tree whilst the much heavier male sleeps at its base. There is only one species of gorilla but three subspecies. The western lowland gorilla lives in the tropical forests of the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. The eastern lowland gorilla lives in eastern Zaire and inhabits the higher mountains of Rwanda and Uganda.

All gorillas are powerfully built with thick bodies, massive heads and eyes close together under a thick brow ridge. They have small rounded ears along with a broad, flat nose. Males have a high crown with a tall bony crest providing attachment for the massive jaw muscles required to process the huge quantities of vegetation required to maintain the ape’s bulk. Their long arms are very muscular and their legs thick and short. The hands are broad with short fingers and weak thumbs. A gorilla’s arms are fairly longer and its feet and hands shorter and broader than a chimpanzee’s. the gorilla in the mist s also tends to be dark in colour, greyish or black, while the mature dominant male develops a distinctive silvery saddle on his back and is known as a silverback. The teeth are big, particularly the molars, and males have formidable canines.

Gorillas form family groups consisting of the fully adult dominant silverback male along with a harem of females and young of different ages. Young adult males generally leave the group and live alone until they are able to discover females of their own. They occasionally come into conflict with established silverbacks and may compete for females. Silverbacks go via a repertoire of threats to intimidate their enemy and impress females which may end in fighting. Serious fights are rare but they can last for days and end in death. Young females also leave their birth group and join lone males or other groups. The size of a gorilla group ranges from two to over 30 animals.

Gorillas don’t travel a lot but live in places where food is abundant – generally forests with lush leaf abundance. They’re strictly vegetarian, eating leaves, buds, shoots, roots, tubers, stalks, bark and fruits. They move from 1 feeding site to another within their house range, covering about 1-2km inside a day. The gorilla in the mist gets through a lot of vegetation each day that they produce vast amounts of dung at regular intervals and break wind frequently.