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Gorillas are large, quiet, gentle apes. Although
gorillas are frequently portrayed as aggressive, dangerous
killers, they are really shy, peaceful vegetarians.
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Gorillas have very long arms, and a short, bulky body with a
wide chest. Gorillas are covered with brownish hair on
most of their body, except their fingers, palms, face,
armpits, and bottoms of their feet. Gorillas have a very
large head with a bulging forehead, tiny ears, and small,
dark-brown eyes. Gorillas have no tail. Adult gorillas have 32
teeth, with large flat teeth used for chewing food and large
pointy teeth used for biting, which are especially large in
the male gorillas. Gorillas each have a unique nose
print. Gorillas have senses very similar to ours.
Gorillas' hands are very much like ours; they have five
fingers, including an opposable thumb. Their feet
have five toes, including an opposable big toe.
Gorillas can grasp things with both their hands and their
feet. Male gorillas are much larger than the
females, and are almost twice as heavy. Adult male
gorillas are called silverbacks because they have a
saddle-shaped patch of silver hair on their backs after they
are about 12 years of age. |
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Diet:
Gorillas are predominantly herbivores, eating mostly plant
material. They look for food in the forests during the
day. They eat leaves, fruit, seeds, tree bark, plant
bulbs, tender plant shoots, and flowers. Occasionally,
gorillas supplement their diet with termites and ants.
Gorillas rarely drink water; the water contained in their diet
is apparently enough to sustain them. An average adult
male eats approximately 50 pounds of food a day.
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Habitat
and Shelter:
Gorillas live in Africa in tropical rain forests usually in
the forest edges and clearings, wet lowland forests, swamps,
and abandoned fields. Gorillas do not live wild in
Georgia. For shelter, each evening,
gorillas construct a "nest" for the night in which they will
curl up and sleep. These bowl-shaped nests are made out of
leaves and other plant material. Nests are only shared
by a mother and her nursing offspring. Scientists who
study gorillas can easily estimate a local gorilla population
by counting the number of "nests." |
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Predators:
The
primary threat to gorillas comes from forest clearance as
humans tear down forest areas to make room for living spaces
for people and to use the wood in the forest for other
products. Gorillas are in danger of becoming extinct
because so many forests where they make their homes are being
destroyed. |
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