Even if she does, very few of them will survive at birth. This is because percent of the infant gorillas die at some point during their first three years of life, during the lactation period. There are many reasons responsible for the high mortality rate of infant gorillas.
There is also the issue with a new silverback. When a new dominant male takes over a group of gorillas, he kills all the nursing infants. This is to create an enabling environment for mating with the females in the group. Lastly, there is the health and diseases issue. Other diseases that cause the death of infant gorillas, especially mountain gorillas, include gastrointestinal parasitism, Capillariasis, and lymphoid disease.
Gorillas are born weighing about 2 kilos, and mostly their moms take care of them. Males usually do not participate in offspring care, although sometimes socialize with them.
The role of the male gorilla is to ensure the acceptance of the gorilla into the group and prevent young adults from bullying the infants. As typically happens in primates, the mother-infant bond is unyielding and can last for many years. The life cycle of gorillas is similar to the human life cycle in stages, although not in all times.
The first stage is childhood and ranges from birth until about five months old. At three years starts the juvenile stage; they are no longer infants, but they are not adults either. At about ten years old or when they reach sexual maturity, gorillas enter adulthood. What do gorillas eat? Gorillas are herbivores and gorilla food consists of mainly plants.
Western gorillas are smaller than the Eastern gorilla but not by much. They are very much the same in their physical appearance. Skip to content. Introduction One of the largest species of ape in the world today is the Gorilla. This article was written by a professional writer, copy edited and fact checked through a multi-point auditing system, in efforts to ensure our readers only receive the best information.
To submit your questions or ideas, or to simply learn more, see our about us page: link below. Updated November 22, Gorillas have a high infant mortality rate; only about half of them will survive to adulthood. Related Articles Chimpanzee Mating Habits. How Do Elephants Mate?
True Love? These Monogamous Animals Mate for Life. Zebra Breeding Facts. Life Cycle of the Lion. Information on Baby Lions. How Do Elephants Behave? Among most gorilla species, interaction with other groups is very rare though it has been observed in western lowland gorillas. The dominant silverback keeps other members in check.
He determines what is to be done and when. Gorilla group members are generally peaceful allowing the silverback to focus on dealing with challenges from predators leopards , solitary males and silverbacks from other groups. If there are other silverbacks in the group, they will help him deal with intruders and other threats. In order to understand the evolution and behavior of our own species, we need to understand what goes on in the wild among our closest cousins, the great apes.
Gorilla mating habits depend on several factors but we also need to understand their reproductive cycle. Females gorillas reach sexually maturity when about 10 to 12 years. The ovulation cycle occurs early around 6 years of age but they remain infertile till they are mature enough at 10 years. The dominant silverback is the only one with total access to the females. Most males leave the group once they reach adulthood.
Most females leave their fathers group too in order to avoid inbreeding. The female would rather mate with the less subordinate males in the group than with her father.
Even when she is forced too, the probability of a gorilla conceiving from the father is very low except in cross river gorilla families where inbreeding in common. Mating and breeding occurs throughout the year. The dominant silverback mates with all females in the group as soon as they begin ovulation.
The moment when a female gorilla is ready to mate is not evident physically like it is in chimpanzees. Ms Redrobe said it was a "judgement call" for how long the zoo waits before this happens. Lope will be about years-old when he is ready to start a family of his own and able to leave Twycross. But he will not go straight into an enclosure with a set of females - he has a few things to learn first. Young gorillas will join an older one that will teach them how to be big male gorillas. Again, judgement is required from the experts to protect the youngsters, as Sharon Redrobe explains.
By the time Lope reaches sexual maturity, gorillas, as well as the other great apes - orang-utans, bonobos and chimpanzees - could be all but gone in the wild. There are around gorillas in captivity in the European zoo community. But Ms Redrobe disagrees that the apes should be released back to their African homeland. At the moment, we need to work on keeping their wild cousins safe. The breeding programme will continue until it is safe to release captive apes back into the wild, she added.
With this in mind there could be a very small chance that one day Lope will live in the land his ancestors once dominated. Sex of endangered gorilla revealed.
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