Western Gorillas Eastern Gorillas - Pictures

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Western Gorillas Eastern Gorillas - Life Style

The Western Gorillas-Eastern Gorillas have a relaxed lifestyle. They get up rather late. They feed for about two hours in the morning and then for about four hours in the evening and they rest for a long time. They sleep in brand new nests that are made each day. Gorillas usually move about 1300 - 3300 feet (400-1000 m) each day.

For sleeping at night or resting at day, Gorillas make a nest. Every Gorilla, whether it is an adult or a juvenile, makes his or her own nest. The nests are usually made on the ground, but, in some areas, they can also be made within the trees. Adult Gorilla males prefer building their nests on the ground. Usually it takes a few minutes for a Gorilla to make a nest.

To make a nest, a Gorilla is usually standing or sitting in a central position. It pulls in the surrounding vegetation, which it tucks under and around itself. Usually the one same nest is not used for more than a single night. Nest construction type depends on the habitat type, group size and season. Variations in Western Gorilla-Eastern Gorilla nests can include use of different species of plants and different construction techniques (e.g. branches broken rather than bent during nest construction).

Western Gorillas Eastern Gorillas - Threats

Problems the Gorilla faces are hunting and forest clearance for agriculture and timber. As forests are the main habitat for Gorillas, deforestation process is the main threat for these animals. As a matter of fact, African lowland and mountain forests are being cut down to make way for food production uses such as cropping and livestock grazing. What's more, Gorillas are killed in retaliation for crop raiding.

In Central Africa, commercial logging and petroleum extraction are becoming an increasingly significant threat to the habitat of the gorilla. The internal trade in bush meat, which occurs over much of the Lowland Gorillas' ranges, is now a threat. In recent years, human population pressures on forest habitat of the Eastern Lowland Gorilla have become worse due to the nearly 1 million refugees from neighboring Rwanda and Burundi.

Western Gorillas Eastern Gorillas - Conservation Status of Western Gorillas

Western lowland Gorillas have no known enemies except humans. Humans have threatened their livelihood for over a century and have caused them to become endangered through the degradation of the tropical rainforest, illegal hunting for meat, big game hunting, sale of live young, and over-collection by zoos and research institutions.

Many Gorillas have been shot and killed as they are often provoked by humans and usually they can be aggressive. Gorillas can charge an enemy, although they charge to intimidate, not to injure, and rarely make actual contact with one another under these circumstances. Their last chance for survival may be a few gorilla sanctuaries in Africa, zoos, and other captive environments established in other parts of the world. Western Gorillas-Eastern Gorillas are considered endangered by the IUCN.

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