The Mountain Gorilla is an awe-inspiring creature, a male gorilla can weigh up to 220kg (485lbs) and can be up to six foot tall (2 meters). These apes have muscular arms, a massive chest, and broad hands and feet, and they have longer hair and shorter arms than their lowland cousins. Their thick black hair helps insulate them from cold weather. They are primarily herbivores and can eat as much as 18 kg (40 lb) of vegetation each day. They favor celery, thistles, wood, and roots, and they rarely need to drink because they consume succulent vegetation which is full of water as well as morning dew.
These apes are tremendously social and live in groups of two to 40 led by the silverback, a dominant male that is the chief leader and protector. The majority of males leave their biological groups around 11 years old. Some move alone and others travel with other males for a few years until they attract females to join them. The silverback leads the group to the best spot for feeding and resting throughout the year.
They live in the mountains of Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo. Within a short drive from the capital of Rwanda you can be in the center of the Virunga National Park which is fertile and rich in biodiversity making it one of the most populated regions in Africa. You can spend an hour each day watching these remarkable creatures go about their daily life. Not only is this exceptionally enjoyable but also the revenue from ecotourism help to protect the gorillas, protecting their forest habitat and provide important income to Rwanda. On top of this is the level of local employment in the hotels and tourism industry and it is clear to the local people how the money flows into the community to provide jobs, schools and health care centers. You will be stunned to see how clean Rwanda is and they have banned plastic bags and every month everyone comes out of their house to clean the locality of any rubbish.
The late Dian Fossey is the champion who initiated protection and mountain gorilla recovery. She single-handedly made the world aware of the plight of these big gentle giants and she fought hard to stop poaching, removed thousands of snares and stopped people taking young gorillas for zoos. Dian Fossey was very concerned about the snares that were placed in the forests, often to catch game but were inadvertently getting caught around the limbs of gorillas, causing infections. She raised funds to hire James Foster in 1986 to be the first Gorilla Doctor who had the skills to anesthetize gorillas, remove snares and treat wounds and treat some infections.
Mountain gorillas are still listed as Endangered by the IUCN, the population have been increasing and doing well as a direct result of conservation e !orts, so they are no longer listed as Critically Endangered. They are the only great ape with increasing population in the world. Their main threat is the habitat loss. As humans have moved into areas near mountain gorillas, they have cleared land for agriculture and livestock. Even land within protected areas is not safe —in 2004, for example, illegal settlers cleared 3,700 acres of gorilla forest in Virunga National Park. There is little to no direct targeting of mountain gorillas for bushmeat or pet trade, but they can be caught and harmed by snares set for other animals.
