What do mountain gorillas do during the day?
What do gorillas/mountain gorillas do during the day? Mountain gorillas like most Apes have unique lifestyles and each day, they have different activities do. The endangered mountain gorillas spend most of their day eating. They start foraging from morning till midday, and they rest at night.
They make new nests each day to sleep, nest building starts in the evening. The daily routine of mountain gorillas or gorillas in general is designed in a such a way that half of their day they spend it eating and a 3rd of it is for resting.
About 6.5% of their time is spent roaming from one area to another. 3.6% of these large apes is spent engaging in social behaviors. Bonding/socializing often takes place during rest period. This is when they get to interact with each other, and the infants/young ones can be sighted playing.
By 6:00am, mountain gorillas are already awake/would have exited their sleeping sites/nests and ready for their active day. They only take longer in their sleeping sites if it is cold.
Mountain Gorilla
What do gorilla eat all day?
Gorillas live in dense rainforests, areas that support plant growth. The largest portion of mountain gorilla diet is comprised of vegetation. They depend on leaves, roots, shoots, fruits, and occasionally, they eat small insects.
Where to find mountain gorillas in the wild?
Mountain gorillas in Africa live in only 3 countries in Africa, and a visit to see them in the wild is possible on gorilla safaris. The 3 African states to find mountain gorillas in their natural habitat include Uganda, Rwanda and Congo.
4 National Parks in Africa to find mountain gorillas in the wild include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park located in southwestern Uganda. Virunga National Park, located in Eastern D.R. Congo and Volcanoes National Park in the Northwestern side of Rwanda.
What is the social structure of gorillas like?
Gorillas live in families, and each gorilla family group is comprised of about 25-40 members. Every single gorilla group is led by a mature adult or silverback gorilla whose sole responsibility is to ensure safety of all other members, locate areas where they can go forage and mating females.
How to see gorillas in the wild
To be allowed to visit mountain gorillas for instance in Uganda, Rwanda or Congo, all visitors must have valid gorilla permits. Respective gorilla destinations have set rates for gorilla trekking permits and in Uganda, the permits cost USD700 for foreign non-residents, the foreign residents USD600 per person and shs. 250,000 for East Africa citizens. If you are visiting Rwanda, permits and gorilla safari entirely can still be arranged through a reliable tour operator and permits cost USD1500 per person.
When to visit gorillas in the wild?
Mountain gorilla
Visits to see gorillas in the wild is possible all-year-round, but for excellent gorilla treks, the dry season is the best time. With this in mind, it is advisable to mark two phases of dry season; the long dry season often experienced from June to September or short dry months starting from December to February.