Mountain gorillas, just like humans have enemies regardless of their massive sizes. They are highly threatened in the jungles by a number of natural predators. However, they are unique creatures that exhibit a keen intelligence, emotional and social life. Being one of the closest relatives to humans, trekking to view them offers in-depth insight into our man’s evolution and development. Mountain Gorilla Predators are found in the same inhabitant the gorillas live in. Mountain gorillas are found in Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo. In Uganda, they are found in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park. in Rwanda, they can be trekked in Volcanoes national park and Virunga national park in DR Congo.
Regardless of their being the humble creatures, their lives are still highly threatened. But they have few natural predators in their natural habitats. The notable mountain gorilla predators are leopards and crocodiles, these often kill gorillas especially the babies/infants. Humans have also proven to be a threat to the survival of these apes in the wild especially considering the different human activities ranging from habitat loss as a result of mining, farming, industry; illegal hunting, warfare to mention but a few.
The kind of farming practice most people conduct is typically slash and burn where a piece of land is cleared by farmers, burn the vegetation which offers refuge to mountain gorillas. Also, considering the fact that they are closely related to humans, they aren’t spared by the human infectious diseases. The other extreme factor is climate change which has impacted on their habitat.
Leopards are the popular among the mountain gorilla predators. They are big in size and smart felines which depend on meat from various animals. They are considerably the only creatures with ability to kill an adult mountain gorilla. While mountain gorillas also have distinct ways to communicate especially in emitting alarm calls to warn the rest of the family members or even climb the tree, the leopards are in an added advantage given their ability to climb trees as fast as possible.
However, it is on rare occasions that leopards can prey on adult male gorillas although they do so especially the western lowland gorillas also famously called Gorilla beringei beringei. Most times, they (leopards) avoid mature males/silverback gorillas because they are very strong and leopards are forced to hunt down for the young gorillas.
Crocodiles are also other notorious predators of mountain gorillas. They spend their time lurking in the water areas and they attack gorillas when they gather to drink water or as they walk in the middle of the wetland within the rain-forest. But this is rare as mountain gorillas don’t go direct to the rivers or swamps to drink water since they depend on succulent fruits.
How mountain gorillas defend themselves.
Once mountain gorillas detect a predator in the nearby area, alarm calls are made to warn the rest of family members about any likely dangers. They then gather especially around the silverback their leader for defense. It should be noted that it is the responsibility of a male/silverback gorilla to protect his group members from predators or any attacks.
Female gorillas on the other than can build strong ties with male gorilla away to protect themselves. In case any intruder fails to leave, the silverback can confront him while displaying all kinds of tactics to show how strong he is. He can stand on his 2 legs and beat the chest using all the 2 hands and scream or roar to show the enemy how strong or big he is. The black backs then lead others away from the predators or gather to attack the enemy. In most cases, predators don’t like confronting a powerful silverback because he can injure them using the canine teeth and the predators can opt to walk away.
Other mountain gorilla facts.
- Mountain gorillas are exceptional creatures, sharing about 95% of their DNA with humans.
- Each individual mountain gorilla is distinct on its own way; showcasing unique shape and patterns on their nose. They don’t share the same pattern something that distinguishes them.
- They grow silver-like hair along their backs at an adult age which is why the mature males are called silverbacks.
- Gorilla beringei beringei is the scientific name of the mountain gorillas, a sub-species of the Eastern gorillas.
