Gorillas are the largest living primates and, along with chimpanzees, are our closest living relatives. They are herbivores, feeding on leaves and young shoots -- although, like many primates, they occasionally eat other things as well. Young gorillas are capable of impressive acrobatic displays in trees, but adults are usually ground dwellers. Weighing up to 400 pounds (182 kg), they're too heavy for tree-climbing. Their unusual quadrupedal gait is called "knuckle-walking"; they support their bulk on the knuckles of their hands, rather than the palms, like monkeys do.

Gorillas are highly social animals, typically forming groups of 5 to 10 animals, but sometimes num- bering as many as 35. A group consists of at least one polygamous male and several females and their offspring. Females reach sexual maturity at age 7 or 8, but don't begin to breed until they're about 10. Males mature later and don't start breeding until they're 15 to 20 years old. There is no specific breeding season, and usually a single baby is born. Infants stay and feed with their mothers until they're weaned at the age of 3 or so. There is a high infant-mortality rate among gorillas, so a female's offspring tend to be spread six to eight years apart.

Hanging On
Of the three subspecies of gorillas, the mountain gorilla is the most highly endangered. According to most estimates, about 600 survive today -- half of them in Virunga, the area depicted in the Museum's diorama. Gorilla exportation is strictly controlled by CITES and other international agreements, but there is still an active, lucrative market for endangered primates. In one case, for example, a LACTATING female mountain gorilla was found dead, killed by poachers, without an infant nearby. The baby had probably been captured and sold to a private collector or zoo.

Hunting and poaching are the leading threats to gorilla populations throughout Africa. Gorillas are shot, speared, and trapped for their meat as well as for trophies. Gorillas are sometimes caught in snares set for smaller animals and die of infected wounds. Their survival is also threatened by habitatdestruction caused by agriculture and logging. Human populations in central Africa are increasing, which means that the gorillas' habitat will continue to shrink.

The African countries that are the gorillas' home are doing the best they can to protect them, but these efforts are hampered by financial constraints and pressing developmental problems. Some conservationists would like to see the Virunga Mountains established as a United Nations World Heritage Site and Biosphere reserve -- a designation that would give the area a special status and increase the chances for the mountain gorilla's survival.

ENDANGERED HABITAT:
View from Mt. Mikeno, gorilla country, located in Zaire near the Rwanda border -- January, 1990. These terraced hills, fully forested not long ago, illustrate environmental degradation rooted in overpopulation. The base of Mt. Mikeno saw further degradation in 1994 as a result of Rwanda's civil war, which caused desperate Hutu refugees to cut down forests for wood and kill thousands of animals for food. The explosion of ethnic violence in this poor and overpopulated country claimed the life of gorilla advocate Lawrence Bajeneza (seen here in better times) and 500,000 fellow Rwandans and caused inestimable damage to wildlife and the environment.