You will be stunned by how the Gorilla’s breakdown large plants to feed on. These great apes can eat as much as 18 kg (40 lb) of vegetation each day. Mountain gorillas are mainly herbivores and their diet is mainly composed of leaves, shoots and stems. It frequently rides on her mother’s back. Mountain Gorilla Reproduction: A baby gorilla weighs about 1.8 kg , and just like humans spends the first few months in direct contact with the mother. 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. Mountain gorillas mainly eat vegetables sticking to stems, leaves, bamboo shoot, fruits, pith, moth, roots, and grubs and sometimes supplement their diet with termites, ants, and insects. Animals of this size need a lot of food, how ever these large and strong mountain gorillas are primarily herbivore. Strong jaws help the gorilla chew tough stems. What Do Mountain Gorillas Eat The mountain gorillas live in high altitude mountain areas where fruit trees are less in numbers. Gorillas stick to a mainly vegetarian diet, feeding on stems, bamboo shoots and fruits. The mountain gorilla’s diet is consists of 86% plant materials such as leaves, stems, and shoots. Like other gorillas, the mountain gorilla enjoys fresh fruit, but only a few species grow here, such as passion fruit and banana. Your email address will not be published. Among these. When you book a gorilla trekking tour with Adventure in the wild safaris, some of the interesting thing to look forward too is to observe the mountain gorillas feeding. Mountain Gorillas consume roots, leaves, stems of herbs, vines, bark from trees, shrub-sized plants and bamboo shoots. Mountain gorillas are herbivorous. Ants and termites are the invertebrates mostly eaten by Gorillas, however, they also rarely eat grubs, larvae and caterpillars. This dietary behavior of th… In contrast, the mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes eat only 38 different plant species, mainly Galium, thistles, celery and nettles. and the vegetarian gorilla is no exception. both Uganda and Rwanda…, Kampala Office: JLS Building, Najjanankumbi, Kampala, Uganda. The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) emerges from the two subspecies of eastern gorilla. 3. Some of herbivores have large, lusterless and flat teeth. Gorillas belong to a specialized type of herbivore called folivore. An adult Grauer's gorilla male is estimated to eat 30 kg of plants every day, an adult female about 18 kg. The mountain gorilla is primarily a herbivore; the majority of its diet is composed of … The mountain Gorillas feed on green plants. Adult males consume up to 75 lb (34 kg) a day; adult females consume up to 40 lb (18 kg) a day. Mountain gorillas are mostly herbivorous, which means the majority of their diet consists of plants. Our Packages include activities such as: Gorilla Trekking, Mountain Hiking, Game drives, Cultural encounters, Birding safaris, Boat safaris, nature trails and walks, adventure sports and so much more! The diet of Mountain Gorilla's is primarily vegetarian. Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei): This subspecies consumes parts of at least 142 plant species and onl… Here we have gathered complete information on What Do Mountain Gorillas Eat and listed down the plants that form part of the Mountain Gorillas Diet. Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri): This subspecies consumes parts of at least 104 plant species. Initially mothers feed milk their babies with their breasts. Those are better for biting and tearing flesh. Although they eat a variety of plants-over 100 different species , their favorites include wild … They eat both bamboo leaves and bamboo shoots. Western lowland gorillas, however, also have an appetite for termites and ants, and break open termite nests to eat the larvae. In fact, this ape eats a lot of food and they are herbivores in nature. The vegetation is very dense at the bottom of the mountains, becoming more sparse at higher elevations, and the forests where the mountain gorilla lives are often cloudy, misty, and cold. Mountain gorillas are vegetarians that eat vegetables mainly stems, leaves, fruits that make 25% of the gorilla diet, bamboo shoot, pith, roots, moth and grubs. Here we have gathered complete information on. As a result, their diet is high in tannins. Their diet consists of roots, leaves, stems, vines, bark, bamboo shoots, and entire small plants. There are three countries in Africa that have got the mountain gorillas living in their…, Cost of Gorilla trekking tour in Uganda - Uganda Gorilla trek Price and Budget The…, Are you searching for the best gorilla trekking destination in Africa? A bit more than half live in the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. This subspecies does not feed on bananas, it only destroys banana plants to feed on the pith. A mountain gorilla diet consists of mainly leaves, flowers, tree bark, stems, roots and ants. © WWF / Carlos Drews What do gorillas eat? Check out this rare Highland Gorilla footage. Like all other gorilla species, mountain gorillas are herbivores and consume a plant-based diet of leaves, roots, bamboo, bark, bamboo shoots, as well as seasonal fruits and flowers. Their diet includes leaves, fruits, roots, bark, flowers, stems and buds, and occasionally small invertebrates, mainly tiny insects like ants, larvae, and snails. The mountain gorilla spends 30% or more of a typical day searching for and eating food. When they reach an age of 8 years they easily ingest solid food. Baby gorillas begin to walk at about 5 months, and start eating plants by 6 months . Thistle (Producer) Gorilla (Primary Consumer) Leopard (Secondary Consumer) Poacher (Tertiary Consumer). Those are better for biting and tearing flesh. Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved Adventure in the wild safaris, What to Wear for your Gorilla trek in Rwanda, Mountain gorilla diet – what do gorillas eat, Safari Blog | Adventure In The Wild Safaris, Uganda gorilla trekking in Uganda from Kigali, Ruhija Sector, Region of Bwindi impenetrable national park. In the thick forests of central and west Africa, troops find plentiful food for their vegetarian diet. they eat leaves, stems buds and fruits which have relatively low energy. The term “Gorilla” refers to a genus of animals including many different species.By nature, gorillas are omnivorous, meaning that they eat both plants and animals. Note that during dry seasons the mountain Gorillas feed and consume a lot of seeds and tree barks in order to gain some water. In a food chain plants are called producers as they prepare their food by themselves. A total of 18 staple foods that comprise 97% of the annual dietary intake of the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei) were analyzed for fatty acid concentrations. Mountain gorillas can break termite nests to eat larva. Occasionally they eat invertebrates also. The mountain gorilla diet is composed of plant life and they are known to feed on over 140 plant species. Few plants can tolerate the low oxygen and acidic soil. For instance they may only consume a root of a particular plant, stem of the other, leaves and fruit of another etc. The composition of the gorilla's diet varies by subspecies and seasonality. These types of teeth are excellent for chewing and breaking down of hard plant materials. Gorillas belong to a specialized type of herbivore called folivore. 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