The leader (the silverback) organizes group activities, like eating, nesting and travelling in their home range. Western lowland gorillas live in the smallest family groups of all gorillas, with an average of four to eight members in each. They are often found on the ground and are made up of up to 30 gorillas. In the study done at Lope, gorillas harvest most of their food arboreally, but less than half of their night nests are built in trees. Groups containing only one male are believed to be the basic unit of the social group, gradually growing in size due to reproduction and new members migrating in. In cases where there is more than one silverback male in a group, they are most likely father and son. The group of gorillas is led by one or more adult males.
Males also aggressively compete for contact with females. Females tend to make bonds with other females in their natal group only, but form strong bonds with males. The male gorilla has the role of the protector. Their breeding groups consist of one silverback male, three adult females and their offspring. Males like to settle with other male members of their family. However, while both sexes leave their birth group, females are always part of a breeding group. It is easier for males to travel alone and move between groups, as before reaching the age of sexual maturity, males leave their natal group and go through a “bachelor stage” that can last several years either in solitary or in a nonbreeding group. Larger groups travel greater distances in order to obtain sufficient food. Populations feeding on high-energy foods that vary spatially and seasonally tend to have greater day ranges than those feeding on lower-quality but more consistently available foods. Gorillas normally travel 3–5 km (1.9–3.1 mi) per day. The group usually favours a certain area within the home range but seems to follow a seasonal pattern depending upon the availability of ripening fruits and, at some sites, localised large open clearings (swamps and "bais"). Gorillas do not display territorial behavior, and neighboring groups often overlap ranges. Western lowland gorilla groups travel within a home range averaging 8–45 km 2 (3.1–17.4 sq mi). Western lowland gorillas at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan This style of movement requires long arms indeed, the arm span of western gorillas is greater than their standing height. Western gorillas frequently stand upright, but walk in a hunched, quadrupedal fashion, with hands curled and knuckles touching the ground. Zoo owner John Aspinall claimed a silverback gorilla in his prime has the physical strength of seven or eight Olympic weightlifters, but this claim is unverified. Males in captivity, however, are noted to be capable of reaching weights up to 275 kg (606 lb). Males have an average weight of 140 kg (310 lb), females of 90 kg (200 lb). Ī male standing erect can be up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall and weigh up to 270 kg (600 lb). Among these teeth are strong sets of frontal canines and large molars in the back of the mouth for grinding fruits and vegetables. Other features are large muscles in the jaw region along with broad and strong teeth. They have short muzzles, prominent brow ridges, large nostrils and small eyes and ears. Their hands are proportionately large with nails on all digits (similar to those of humans) and very large thumbs. This coloration is the reason why older males are known as "silverbacks". The hair on the back and rump of males takes on a grey coloration and is also lost as they get older.
#Alpha male muscular silverback gorilla skin#
They possess no tails and have jet black skin along with coarse black hair that covers their entire body except for the face, ears, hands and feet. This species of gorillas exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism. The western lowland gorilla is the smallest subspecies of gorilla but still has exceptional size and strength.
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