MOUNTAIN GORILLA

Mountain Gorilla Trekking, Rwanda & Uganda

Mountain gorillas are the largest living primates in the world and one of the most endangered, with around 720 living in the world today. Or to put it another way, there is only 1 mountain gorilla for every 10 million people on earth. Found in the mountain rainforests of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the mountain gorilla is perhaps the most iconic of the great apes.

Living in large social groups consisting of a dominant silverback male (the hair turns silver at maturity, around 13 years old), sometimes a subordinate silverback, a harem of 3 or 4 females and a number of other juvenile "black-backs" and infants. It is the male who gives the group focus and should he die, the group tends to disintegrate. Primarily vegetarian, a troop will spend the majority of it's time on the ground during the day, rarely moving more than 1km a day, making them some of the easiest primates to track. A female gorilla reaches sexual maturity at the age of around 8 with a gestation period similar to that of a human.