Their life span seems to range from thirty to thirty-five years. George Schaller began his 20-month observation of the mountain gorillas in 1959, subsequently publishing two books: The Mountain Gorilla and The Year of the Gorilla. Frequency of Birth Mountain gorillas spend much of their time eating. Mountain gorillas wander around a home range of up to 15 square miles (39 square kilometers). Young are born throughout the year and usually at night. The maximum life span of mountain gorillas in the wild is difficult to estimate. The lives of gorillas in the wild was enigmatic until American zoologist George B. Schaller observed the species for many years and published a pioneering study titled, "The Mountain Gorilla… How many babies do female gorillas have? The life of mountain gorillas and why they are critically endangered Gorillas belong to the great ape family which also includes human beings, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. The average life span of mountain gorillas is difficult to estimate because they only exist in the wild. Mountain gorillas are a subspecies of eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Female gorillas have slow reproductive rates, and may have only 2-6 offspring over the course of their life span. LIFESPAN: Mountain gorillas live up to 53 years in captivity. Each group is led by a dominant silverback which determines the movement of their groups and protects them from any external threats. Apes have larger brains and because of that are generally more intelligent than smaller primates. Little was known about the life of the mountain gorilla before his research, which described its social organization, life history, and ecology. Social life. Mountain gorillas can even die from the common cold. A gorilla life cycle starts with a gestation period which takes about 8.5 weeks; a gorilla gestation period can be identified from swollen knuckles. FOOD: The longest-lived gorillas in captivity reached ages of 30 to 35 years. Gorillas show some of the same characteristics of skeletal ageing as modern humans, including endosteal and some periosteal expansion. Birth Seasons. It is difficult to tell if a female gorilla is pregnant since her stomach is large to begin with (for food digestion). Question 13. At night the animals make a nest to sleep in. HABITAT: The dense, forest ecosystems of the mountains of East Africa are the last remaining habitat of the mountain gorilla. The biggest threats to this endangered great ape's survival come from political instability, human encroachment, and forest degradation. Humans are pushing mountain gorillas out of the wild and into extinction. Female mountain gorillas usually produce at night time and can produce any time of the year. Only about 1,000 of these great apes remain in … The gorilla's gestation period is about 8.5 months. Mountain gorillas live in groups also known as families of about 10-30 or even 40 members. No gorilla has been seen in the wild that looked as aged as the oldest captive gorillas, so the life span in the wild is probably somewhat less, perhaps 25 to 30 years. Their food includes a variety of plants, along with a few insects and worms. All members of a group have a close bond to each other. Conservation Many lightweight gorillas nest in trees, making beds of bent branches. However, unlike in humans, there is no decline in cortical or trabecular bone density, or in combined geometric-density measures of strength, nor do females show accelerated bone loss later in life. However, some females have swollen knuckles temporarily during pregnancy. 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