Nowadays, they are killed for meat in Uganda and Rwanda because of Congolese refugees coming in, but that is only since the last 50 years. Different tribes have different names and myths about it. According to tour guide Gerad Ndahura, the forest-dwelling Batwa pygmies call them Avanyamuzari (literally relatives) and they are called Engagi in their language. They are ‘gentle giants’ but can hurt you if you try to harm them. They are vegetarians and do not harm humans unless threatened.They also have a unique reaction like human laughter. John Makombo, Program Director for Uganda Wildlife Authority said that when a silverback dies, the new silverback will not kill the babies of the previous, unlike the lions that kill the cubs of the previous leader when they takeover a pride. When you go for the gorilla walk in Uganda or Rwanda, you can see the tour guides mimic these, especially the friendly greeting: literally saying “hello” as one does to a friend. They have 16 different cries which humans can mimic. They may become silverbacks of their own packs in time. The young males are pushed out shortly after puberty and form bachelor troops. Gorillas live in groups with the male silverback leading many females and babies. Gorillas have complex social structures and even a ‘language’ of their own.They stand at 5’11 and weigh 200 kilograms and so, are shorter than a tall man when they walk on all fours – shorter than most basketball players! Despite famous gorillas in the media like King-Kong, Donkey Kong, Gorilla Grodd in DC Comics and other fictional ones being portrayed as so big, a 6-foot man in real life stands taller than your big gorilla (but unlikely to be as heavy). They are the largest living primate, although Gigantopithecus (a relative of the orangutan and probably the inspiration for the mythic yeti) was historically larger and the now extinct Archaeoindri from Madagascar came close. Gorillas are human’s closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos. Despite this status, the number of mountain gorillas is showing growth - the only of the three gorilla subspecies to be increasing in population. ![]() Mountain gorillas are classified as ‘endangered’ - there are an estimated 1,000 mountain gorillas in the wild according to the latest census (which is done every 5-10 years). The mountain gorilla is the only species whose population is increasing.
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