The male’s crest is more prominent than the female’s. Gorillas develop a “sagittal crest” which is a ridge of bone on top of their head. The females are much smaller and slimmer. The male is very stocky and powerful in the body, with wide shoulders and chest. The males, on average, weigh approximately 135 - 220 kg and the females weigh about half of that, around 70 - 90 kg. Western lowland gorillas are the smallest of the four sub-species. Gorillas are the largest of the primates. The western gorilla subspecies are the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). The eastern gorilla subspecies are the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) and the eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri). Within each species there are two subspecies.

That’s when all male gorillas develop their characteristic silver-grey fur.There are two species of gorilla: the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Their weight doubles between the ages of twelve and eighteen. They only finish maturing, however, by the time they are about eighteen. Males become sexually mature relatively young. After that they must abide by all the rules and the hierarchy in the group. The white tuft means something like: “I’m young so I can still do whatever I please.” The white tuft disappears when gorillas reach puberty, by age five or six. This tuft is a clear signal to the other members of the group to treat the young gorilla kindly. During the first years of their life, you can recognise gorilla young by the tuft of white hair on their buttocks. Young gorillas suckle milk from their mother for four or five years. Mothers initially carry their infants on their belly and later on their back or on an arm or leg. Gorilla babies hold on tightly to their mother’s fur using their hands and feet.

The newly born infant is very small and only weighs two kilos. The new mother then rests for a few hours and goes out with the group again the very next day. They have their first baby when they are about ten. This sound is amplified by the hollow space in its chest and can be heard as far as two kilometres away! By the way, gorillas beat their chests for other reasons too, for example when they want to play, challenge each other or boast.įemale gorillas become fertile when they are about eight years old. He then runs towards the other animal, tearing up bushes and trees on the way to demonstrate his strength and then does a drum roll by beating his chest with his flat hands. Which he might do to intimidate another silverback. It’s especially impressive to see a silverback beating his chest. But sometimes he hits a female to correct her. If the females are at odds with each other, he usually lets them sort it out themselves. Sometimes the silverback must act, though. All he has to do to control the group is adopt a certain posture, or look directly at another individual. Often the silverback doesn’t even need this type of communication. They do this, for example, when they lose sight of each other, or feel threatened or get into an argument. But gorillas are also capable of screaming and roaring loudly. They often produce a soft, humming sound which tells other individuals that they are contented. Gorillas are very quiet and friendly animals.

Western lowland gorilla silverback