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Western Lowland Gorilla
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Genus: Gorilla Species: G. gorilla Subspecies: G. g. gorilla

Male: A male Western Lowland gorilla standing upright is usually about 5-6 feet high and weighs 130-270 kilograms.

Female: A female gorilla is about 5 feet tall and weigh half as much as males.

The leader: The leader, chief or silverback is the only male in the pack that can mate, it is called the silverback because it develops silver-grey fur on its back and this marks it as an alpha male. If a younger gorilla that has formed silver fur on its back wants to take charge it challenges the leader. If it wins it will become the new leader. If a new leader is crowned it will often kill all the other babies that were the previous leaders offspring because while the mother is looking after one baby it can’t take care of another. Packs of gorillas can range from 8-20 overall.

A day in the life of a gorilla: In the morning the pack of gorillas will split up and forage for food, they mostly eat particular leaves and roots; occasionally if they find it they will eat wild celery and may resort to small grubs. Gorillas spend a while preparing their food before they eat it. They rarely drink water, they usually get enough moisture from the plants they eat. After eating, older gorillas will usually prepare what is called a day nest, this is a rough group of branches and leaves pulled together to make a circular base for the gorillas to rest on. Younger gorillas will usually play with each other and wrestle around the adults. When night comes all capable gorillas will build their own night nest, this is for them to sleep in. baby gorillas will sleep in their mothers night nest as they cannot make their own.

Young: Gorillas are fully grown at about 10-12 years old; females are pregnant for about nine months and have an average of 3 babies in their lifetime. A newborn gorilla is often covered in blood. It will grow twice as fast as a human baby. A mother will have a strong connection with her offspring. Babies weigh about 1.4-1.8 kilos when they are born. They learn to crawl in about two months and at four months can hold onto their mother’s fur while she climbs. When they are about 9 months old they can walk. Gorillas will stay with their mother for the first 3-4 years of their life. Young gorillas are often quite active during the day. The main danger of a young gorilla is that a new alpha male takes over and kills all the babies that weren’t his offspring.

Habitat: Western lowland gorillas live in richly forested lowlands in Western Africa where there are plentiful food sources and tall trees.

Other: Gorillas don’t really have any predators occasionally a cougar may prey on a weak or young gorilla though.They can make about 25 different sounds including laughing and screaming they can also give off odours depending on mood.media type="custom" key="21319174"