Animal · Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic
Gorilla
Gorilla gorilla — the name this animal has in the language scientists everywhere share.
The gorilla is the largest living primate, living in family groups in the rainforests of central Africa. Despite its huge size and strength, it mostly eats leaves, stems and fruit.
Picture credit: Корзун Андрей (Kor!An) (CC BY-SA 3.0) · John Salatas (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Tony King (CC BY 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where does the gorilla live?
Home: Rainforests of central Africa.
In the wild you find it in: Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea.
Conservation status from the IUCN: critically endangered.
The short profile
Fully grown it measures up to 1.8 m tall standing. It weighs about 160 kilograms. On the menu: plants.
The story behind it
An adult male gorilla, called a silverback because of the grey hair on his back, leads a family group of up to 30 gorillas and can weigh as much as two grown men. Gorillas share about 98% of their DNA with humans and show similar emotions, comforting each other and even seeming to laugh when tickled. They build a fresh nest of leaves and branches to sleep in every single night, either on the ground or in trees. Gorillas share our world closely, yet they are critically endangered because their forest homes are being cleared and they are threatened by poaching and disease outbreaks like Ebola.
Find it on the globe
Gorilla is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
Are gorillas dangerous to humans?
Gorillas are generally calm and shy and rarely attack humans unless they feel threatened. A silverback may beat his chest and charge to warn off danger, but this is mostly a bluff to protect his family.
How strong is a gorilla?
A gorilla is estimated to be around six to nine times stronger than an adult human, able to bend thick bamboo stems and carry heavy branches with ease. Their strength comes from powerful arm and chest muscles.
Why are gorillas endangered?
Gorillas are critically endangered mainly because their rainforest habitat is being cut down for farming and logging, and they face poaching and diseases such as Ebola. Conservation groups now protect key forests and monitor gorilla health.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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