Gorillas....The Fierce Looking Apes

A fierce looking adult gorrila

Gorillas, although, look ferocious but they are actually very quiet and shy animals. They live in large family groups in the thickest parts of jungles, away from the less dense parts where they are not likely to be disturbed. Each group contains of a few father gorillas, some females and a large number of kids

A large gorrila family group napping in its nest

At night, the father gorillas sleep on the ground while the mother and baby gorillas sleep in big nests of sticks and leaves. Sometimes they sleep in the lower branches of trees, where they are safe from prowling animals and other beasts.

Baby gorrila enjoying sun on the branch of a tree

If you were to go near a gorilla's territory, the male head of the group would try to protect his family. His first move would be to beat his chest, grunt, hoot, shout and roar to scare you away. Rather than confronting the intruder , it would hope to scare him away by such aggressive moves.


Gorrilla family unit with a fierce male member ahead



A gorilla's feet, hands, and wrinkled face are bare and black. Its arms are very long in comparison with its body and other most of other animals. They almost touch the ground, even when it is standing up. A gorilla's fur may be short or long, depending on where it lives. The short-haired gorillas are found in the hot and damp jungles of western Africa while the long-haired ones are found in the cooler regions of  high mountains in central Africa. There are not many gorillas of either kind left in the wild. Only a few of them are still found and those too in animal parks and man made sanctuaries.

Mother gorrilla cuddling her baby

Gorillas and chimpanzees are the closest living animal 'relatives' to humans. Along with the bonobos and the orang-utans, these animals make up the 'great apes'. Like the other great apes, gorillas are very clever and can solve problems. They have good memories, and some can even learn sign language.