What Do Gorillas Eat?: The endangered mountain gorillas are one of the iconic and most sought for wildlife species in the world, these gentle creatures critically endangered species only found in the rainforests of Central Africa. They are divided into two species that is the Eastern gorillas and the western gorillas, mountain gorillas are the largest living primates on earth, one of the closest relatives to humans sharing 98% DNA.
What do gorillas eat? Is a commonly asked question.
Most people ask what mountain gorillas eat to become stronger and muscular, this blog contains all the information concerning about What do Gorilla Eat, list of all the fruits and vegetation which is good for their diet along with their most wanted food in the forest.
The food mountain gorillas eat varies on food in season since there are two seasons in the year that is to say dry and wet season but basing on their different species, gorillas are dependent on the thick nature forest of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Mgahinga Gorillas National Park which are their habitants. In Rwanda, gorillas are found in Volcanoes National Park and Virunga National Park. The Eastern Lowland gorillas are found in Congo’s Virunga National Park.
Western lowland gorilla
Western Lowland Gorillas inhabits the montane forests and lowlands swamps in Central Africa, the only specie that can be found in Zoo. Since they are herbivore apes, their main diet is roots, fruits, shoots, wild celery, tree bark and pulp which are vegetables found in the thick forest of West Africa and central but this number of vegetables commonly be in plenty during wet season. In dry season fruits decrease in the consumption, they continue eating other kinds of fruits in the forests. Also they eat small insects such as termites, nuts and herbaceous stem. Their food species are divided into three categories that is to say, seasonal foods that can be available during time of resources, staple food is always available and eaten when fruits are in plenty per month. However, adult gorillas can eat around 18 kilograms of food per day and they can climb trees up to 15 metres high looking for food. They eat fruits and foliage which provide to them balance in nutrients but considering on the time of the year, apart from eating fruits they can also eat leaves, herbs, barks and sugar which gives them energy.
Mountain gorillas.
Mountain gorillas are one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorillas which have half of the remaining gorillas in the world which inhabits the tropical rain forests of Uganda in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Virunga National park in DR.Congo and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
Since mountain gorillas thrive in the tropical rainforests which have plenty of fruits, they prefer eating fruits than any other food. Also they supplement their diet with vegetables like leaves, bamboo shoot, pith, stems, roots and small insects like ants, termites.
Mountain gorillas rarely drink water because of some fruits they eat which contains protein and sometimes they fed on herds, bark. It is noted that mountain gorilla eat 250 species of plants in their habitat.
Eastern Lowland Gorillas
This is a subspecies of Eastern gorillas and are found in mountainous forest of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the Kahuzi Biega National Park and Maiko National Park. The main diet of Eastern lowland gorillas include fruits, stems, leaves and barks as well as insects like termites and ants. It is well known that gorillas do not eat banana fruits instead they destroy banana tree to eat the nutritious pith, farmers who have their plantation close to their inhabits of the forest they kill gorillas so they can benefit from their gardens, through protecting their crops.
Cross River gorilla
The Cross River Gorillas are subspecies of the Western Gorillas found to the forested hills and mountain of Nigeria, Cameroon and they usually live in small groups of 4 to 7 individuals but with few males and few female members. Their main diet comprises of fruit which grows in large supplements during August to September and November to January.
Apart from fruits they also feed on the primarily diet made up of barks, leaves of the trees and herds. Perhaps cross river gorillas food is seasonal since their diets feds on nutritious vegetation that grows near their nesting place.
Visitors who have been part of gorilla trekking in one of the countries where the gorillas inhabit such as Uganda, Rwanda, Congo, they get a chance to know more about the food gorillas eat through getting more information from our local guides who explains the various roles of all plants that gorillas eat because some plants are medicines to endangered gorillas.