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| Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Gorillas: Great apes with a sweet nature The last two weeks we featured chimpanzees. This week we feature another member of the primate family, the gorilla. The gorilla is a very shy, inoffensive vegetarian, the largest and the most powerful of all the apes. Only when provoked or threatened, does it rise to an erect position and beat its cupped hands against its chest to frighten the enemies. Those who have read comics or cartoon strips of King Kong, or seen any King Kong movies may recall how King Kong did this , when he got angry with the people.
There are different groups of gorillas. For many years gorillas were classified as a single species, within the common name gorilla. But now they have found that there are three types of gorillas. They are known as the Eastern Lowlands, Western Lowlands and Mountain gorillas. The names refer to the different areas of Africa where they live. Out of those three types, Mountain gorillas are the most endangered. Conservationists estimate that only around 400 to 600 gorillas are in the wilds at present. Most gorillas found in the zoos today are Western Lowland gorillas. The adult gorillas have a large head, a broad, flattened nose, short and stocky legs, and protruding abdomen. They have two legs and two arms, with 10 fingers and 10 toes respectively just like we humans have. They also have small ears on the side of the head, forward- looking eyes and 32 teeth, just like we do. The eyes, and ears, are small compared to the overall size. So, we are talking about a living being, very similar to a human; 400 pounds of pure muscle with the strength of maybe eight Arnold Schwarzenegger's (the famous Hollywood actor), plus humungous (large) teeth that chomp tree bark like the cheetah, and an arm span longer than Michael Jordan's(basketball player). Like the human infants, baby gorillas are also born small, and weigh about 2kg. During the first three months, gorilla mothers keep their infants with them and nurse them. When they become adults, females grow to an average weight of 90kg and a height of 1.5m, while adult males may reach a weight of 140kg to 180kg and a height of 1.8m.
Their bodies are covered with thick dark hair, except on the face, chest, underarms, palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Their coats are generally black, with the lower back region turning grey, more like silver, in adult males. This is why the male gorilla is known as a silverback. Some gorilla populations have reddish-brown patches on the forehead, and others have white patches around the ears. The lifespan of a gorilla is 35 to 45 years, but some gorillas die in their first two years of life because of various illnesses they contract in the wilds. Not only does the gorilla resemble us in many ways when it comes to physical features, it also resembles us in many ways when it comes to behaviour. Remember, they are known as the first stage of humans in the theory of evolution. They are mainly land animals.They walk quadrupedally(using both their hands and feet). Their knuckles carry the weight of the upper body. In places abundant with fruit trees, they tend to stay more off the ground than on the ground, climbing trees and sometimes beachiating (swinging by their arms). Unlike the other animals, gorillas tend to live in groups with their families. They play, sleep, eat and travel with their families. A typical gorilla family consists of one or two adult males, three or four unrelated females and their children. Gorillas spend much of their day eating, consuming primarily a vegetarian diet of leaves, stems, shoots, and fruit. They also eat ants, termites, grubs, worms and insect larvae. They travel between feedings, covering a distance of several hundred yards to a mile or more, in a day. In lowland forests, where gorillas eat a substantial amount of fruit, the slow passage of seeds through their digestive tracts serve an important ecological process. In other words, they help to grow more trees in the forests they live. Gorillas sleep about 13 hours each night, and rest for several hours at midday. They build new sleeping nests by bending nearby plants into a springy platform, usually on the ground or on low trees. They make this nest everyday. Only if it is raining, will they stick to one place. The mother and baby gorilla will always sleep in one nest. Gorillas have a sweet side to their nature and one of the sweetest things about them is the way they pet and play with their young, with frogs and other small animals. The silverback(mature gorilla) is a very loving dad and allows the little gorillas to crawl all over him and tease him like crazy. Once a researcher had even observed a silverback picking up a flower and tickling a young gorilla with it. They have their own 'gorilla' etiquette. Sitting quietly when you're near them, never interfering with their young ones, and munching some leaves are their etiquettes. If you follow the leader of the gorilla group, the silverback, you will be treated as one of them. Gorillas are very intelligent animals like the chimpanzees. They express a wide range of emotions with those living around them. They are love, grief, fear, greed, joy, generosity, pride, shame, empathy, and even jealousy. Isn't it amazing to know that they too are capable of displaying the same emotions we humans do? And did you know that gorillas also cry? But they do so using sounds, not tears. You may also be amazed to learn that just like you could identify one person from another by taking fingerprints, you can also identify one gorilla from another by taking their nose prints. Good luck to anyone who attempts to get it! Here's news from someone who was successful. A nose print taken, measured 4 1/2 inches wide! Gorillas may be intelligent and very human- like in their behaviour, but they have a handicap. They can't talk like humans because their throat structure is ill designed to attempt human speech. They can however make several sounds to communicate. They communicate with each other by using gestures, body postures, facial expressions, vocal sounds, chest slaps, drumming and by using different odours. As they are intelligent creatures, they can understand the spoken language and also learn to communicate through sign language. The best example of this is a gorilla named Koko, whom we intend to feature in a future issue of Nature Trail. Janani Amarasekara **** Fact File Threat behaviour... * Hooting slow to fast * Symbolic feeding * Rising bipedal * Throwing vegetation * Chest-beating with cupped hands * One leg kick * Sideways running, two legged to four legged * Slapping and tearing vegetation * Thumping the ground with palms to end display. Communication * Twenty five distinct vocalisations have been found. They are primarily used for group communication. * Screams and roars signal alarm or warning, produced most often by silverbacks.
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