| abstract | - The Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is the part of the largest living primate family. A gorilla must spend most of its day eating plants to maintain its large size. Despite its massive size and ferocious reputation, the gorilla is actually a peaceful and social animal. Gorillas and humans are close relatives, and share many things in common. They are very intelligent, have emotions and personalities, and live in family groups.
* A troop of up to 20 gorillas is led and defended by a dominant male called a silverback.
* A male gorilla has the strength of up to eight men.
* Chest-beating is one way a gorilla shows that it’s excited.
* Gorillas and humans have the same number of hairs on their bodies. Height: 5 to 6 ft Weight: Male - Up to 400 lbs, Female - Up to 200 lbs Lifespan: Up to 35 yrs in the wild Habitat: Tropical forest Diet: Fruits, leaves, and small invertebrates Risk Status: Species at Risk (IUCN—Endangered) Range: Central Africa
- The Western Lowland Gorilla (aka: Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla) is a subspecies of the Western Gorilla and is dubbed as critically endangered by The Redlist. The average male can stand 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and eighs nearly 450 pounds (200 kilograms). In the 1980s, a census taken of the gorilla populations in equatorial Africa was thought to be 100,000. Researchers adjusted the figure after years of poaching and deforestation had killed approximately 50,000. Surveys conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2006 and 2007 found more than 100,000 previously unreported gorillas have been living in the swamp forests of Lake Tele Community Reserve and in neighbouring Marantaceae (dryland) forests in the Republic of the Congo. With the new discovery, the current known population of Western Lowland Gorillas is around 150,000–200,000. However, the gorilla remains vulnerable to Ebola, deforestation, and poaching.
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