101 Guide on What Do Gorillas Eat?

sr07
By sr07
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Some really beautiful and astonishing species’ existence on this planet has left people surprised and one such species is that of Gorillas. Did you know that gorillas are one of the most intelligent species and one of the largest great apes?

Here in this article, we will learn about western lowland gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, mountain gorillas, and cross-river gorillas, their looks, the lifestyle of gorillas, and also what gorillas eat. We would also see and learn about the different subspecies, their characteristics, and feeding habits. You will be surprised to know that gorillas share similar senses to other humans as well as apes. Their sense works excellently and proves to be really helpful for them throughout their lives. 

1. What Exactly Counts in Gorilla’s Diet?

What gorillas eat may vary from region to region but broadly it remains similar since their bodies are constituted in a way that a plant-based diet remains best for them and their digestive systems.

The amount of this food varies for each gorilla as their appetite varies. The female gorillas eat a lot less than average adult male gorillas. As close as they are to nature, they keep their lifestyle very close and ingrained in nature, which is why their activities are so interconnected with their surroundings. this includes their food habits, which constitute a major part of their routine day as they spend it searching for food and eating food.

Well, typically, gorillas eat what they find in the forest and do not have a carnivore diet. They eat a huge variety of vegetables and fruits because that is what they get easily and locally. Yes, their huge bodies get filled with these diets. However, they might as well occasionally eat insects. Insects provide them with the protein that they need, but this eating of insects is very rare. They usually do not engage in wild behaviours such as eating other animals or the like.

The most common types of them include leaves, stems, piths, fruit, shoots, herbs, barks, flowers, grubs, termites, and ants. These are some of the food types that you can expect a gorilla to eat on a daily basis, and this is what they get served if they are kept in sanctuaries, if ever.

2. How Do Western Lowland Gorillas Live?

101 Guide on What Do Gorillas Eat?
Source: Unsplash

2.1. Characteristics of Western Lowland Gorillas

The western lowland gorillas are a species that is usually found in tropical forests and areas, as discussed above. These gorillas have a coat that is black in color. They are usually short and thin and have a series of gray-black-brown hairs that are found all around, covering their bodies. Now, when it comes to western lowland gorillas, you can also distinguish infants that are about four years of age with the small white hair tuft that is there on the rump. This is what even the gorilla mother uses to identify and track their infants. A very beautiful way to keep track of loved ones is what you will see amongst them. They can easily identify each other with such things.

The adult western lowland gorillas have certain saddled white hair, which can be seen on the back. As far as the females are concerned, you can identify them with some gray hairs either on top of their head or below the ears, or even on their neck, which come as they grow old. The western gorilla species is easy to distinguish because of their smaller ears and ridges, as well as their lips and noses, which are different from those of the other species. Thus, physically, they are very prominent and are adorable. The most interesting part is what they eat, which would astonish you.

2.2. Diet and Feeding Habits of Western Lowland Gorillas

Given the huge bodies of gorillas, you must be expecting a really heavy, carnivorous diet, expecting gorillas to eat meat. However, this is not the case. Gorillas live a herbivorous diet with lots of greenery and plants and stems. The Western lowland gorilla eats leaves as well as the stems of herbs along with vines and shrubs. They usually stay in forests and depend largely on the greenery around them. Even when gorillas are kept in certain sanctuaries, they are given huge amounts of greens, including leaves, shrubs, and herbs.

The Western gorillas eat a lot of juicy fruits as well, which is not as obvious as other species that have a very small amount of fruit in their diets. The source of protein for them is the invertebrates that they find on the leaves as well as the fruits. You can expect an average male adult western gorilla to eat around 32 kgs of the diet each day in order to feel full, and females only have two-thirds of what males eat as part of their daily diet. 

So, now you know that gorillas probably won’t eat you as they see you, as the myth goes. They are very particular about the food that they eat and strictly try to keep it as herbivorous as possible.

Gorilla Monkey eat 🌿🌾🌿 video.

3. What About Mountain Gorilla?

3.1. Characteristics of Mountain Gorilla

As mentioned, as the region changes so does the lifestyle and type of food but with gorillas in general or mountain gorillas, it’s very similar and can be summed up in the broad categories mentioned above. The thing with mountain gorillas is that you will see them spending a great part of their usual day just eating and it is mostly to do with plants.

3.2. Diet and Feeding Habits of Mountain Gorillas

Mountain gorillas eat plants for the most part of their diet, but yes, they also feed on snails, larvae, ants, and rotting wood, which provide them with sodium, thus getting salt. So, Do these Mountain gorillas eat meat? Well, no, they don’t; they very rarely feed on insects, which would be a little harsh on them to count in meat.

4. What Do Eastern Lowland Gorillas Eat?

101 Guide on What Do Gorillas Eat? 1
Source: Unsplash

4.1. Characteristics of Eastern Lowland Gorilla

Eastern lowland gorillas are another very important species of gorillas. They are very popularly known as the Grauer’s gorilla. Amongst the four types of subspecies, the lowland gorilla is the largest. Here, gorillas live in a slightly different way. They have some really stocky bodies with huge hands but short muzzles. This subspecies has faced a huge decrease because of the unrest in their areas of existence, which also has decreased by a great amount. The land that they had access to was reduced by several miles, leaving only a small patch on which they could live.

4.2. Diet and Feeding Habits of Eastern Lowland Gorilla

Similar to other gorillas, Eastern lowland gorillas also have a very vegetarian diet with plants as the primary source of food for them. Eastern lowland gorillas, as many wonder, do not depend on meat for their food. They, too, have a very herbivorous diet with occasional insect eating.

Eastern lowland gorillas have a body structure where they have thumbs that are opposable, which helps them peel fruit easily, as do bamboo shoots. This is their main source, but you might have heard eastern lowland gorillas are omnivorous, which is because some of them might eat animals on certain occasions for which they travel long distances and thus are called omnivorous, but this is very rare a case. Animals here include lizards, rats as well as rodent families and animals.

Even when you look at the digestive system of gorillas, you will see that they have long intestines, which help them digest food well and absorb as many nutrients as possible, which means they were built to be plant-eaters.

5. What Do Cross River Gorillas Eat?

5.1. Characteristics of Cross River Gorillas

Cross river gorilla is another subspecies that comes under the western gorillas. They have fur, which is black or brownish grey, similar to the western ones, but they differ in their hands, feet, and faces. The heads that they carry are cone-shaped with a reddish color crest. They have huge groups of around two to twenty people as they are very social, and just like any other animal species, the group usually has a male as the dominant leader. The female ratio is around six to seven, and there are children too.

These gorillas used to live in areas that are now taken upon by a huge number of humans, reducing the territory of the gorillas and eventually clearing the forests for their resources which is why the gorillas are left with very few resources. Thus, the gorillas are now left with a very small population and it is very difficult to come across one as around 200 to 300 are left throughout the world.

5.2. Feeding Habits of Cross River Gorillas

Cross River gorillas spend a major chunk of their day eating. This gorilla’s diet includes a lot of leaves, nuts, liana, and berries. They keep searching for their food and never give up, even if it means going long distances and out of their typical living areas.

However, they hardly cause any damage even when outside their residing areas. Very rarely has anyone complained of them causing a problem or harming anybody. They are very safe animals and prey on plants and minute insects, but not humans. They, however, know how to keep themselves safe in case of any human intruder.

6. How Gorillas Search for Food

Gorillas share many sensory traits with humans and other apes, using sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing to thrive in their environment. When it comes to foraging, sight and smell are key senses. Their color vision helps them identify ripe plants, while binocular vision aids in depth perception. Their acute sense of smell helps them detect unfamiliar scents in their jungle habitat, although hearing is primarily reserved for detecting potential threats rather than finding food. Gorillas skillfully use their dexterous hands for tasks like tearing apart branches and stems.

Gorillas typically travel daily from 0.5 to 1 km in search of food. Between foraging sessions, they rest before moving on to explore new areas. Since their territories are relatively small, they don’t often compete with each other for food. Gorillas have a varied diet, including both aquatic and terrestrial plants. When they stumble upon termite or ant colonies, they may break into the nests to feast on the larvae, thanks to their robust jaws and teeth adapted for leaf tearing and chewing.

7. Final Note

101 Guide on What Do Gorillas Eat? 2
Source: Unsplash

Gorillas, by nature, are very shy, and they try to stay far from any human contact as much as possible. However, nobody likes intruders, and one should never try to disturb the peace of such peace-loving animals.

If anyone tries to get too close to the families of gorillas, the leader, who usually would be the one with a silverback gorilla (the male gorillas), might get angry, which can lead to harsh consequences, but the intention is never to hurt but to stay safe. So, as long as they are not provoked, they do not misbehave or attack any human or, for that matter, any animal.

To conclude, we can say There is a misconception that they are harmful and meat eaters. Gorillas are very loving and shy animals with huge bodies, but they are actually very safe and have a diet even more human than any of us.

But if available they eat termites, grubs, and sometimes ants. For any sanctuary, it is absolutely safe and good to serve the gorillas with plants but make sure you serve them in a good and heavy quantity as their body demands and keep including varieties like stems, herbs, bamboo, shrubs, and fruits.

However, it should never be seen as an opportunity to intrude on their privacy and be a threat to them, for that might intrigue them, making them angry, which could cause some harm.

Last Updated on by sr07

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By sr07
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She is Sanya Raheja, a content writer with over two years of experience, specializing in lifestyle and travel niches. Her writing encompasses a wide range of topics, including travel experiences, health and wellness, fashion and beauty, food and drink, and much more. She is dedicated to creating engaging and informative content that resonates with readers and inspires them to live their best lives.