The truth about... gorillas

Gorillas live in the forests of Africa. They are found in several different parts of the continent and have been grouped into five types. At Durrell we have western lowland gorillas.

Did you know…
gorillas live in family groups?

The silverback is the head of the family and his job is to protect everyone from danger and keep any rival silverbacks away from his females.

In the wild, families can contain up to 30 gorillas.

Gorillas and humans are both great apes and very similar.

Gorillas are pregnant for 8.5 months and usually have one baby at a time.

Did you know…
Our silverback is called Ya Kwanza which is Swahili for the first?

Gorillas mostly eat vegetation in the wild and so we feed our gorillas lots of fruit and vegetables. To stop them getting bored, we also give them treats like yoghurt, raisins and porridge.

In the wild, gorillas are under threat from loss of habitat, when their forest gets cut down and hunting for the bushmeat trade.

Click here to download the gorilla factsheet.