The gorilla is a genus of mostly herbivorous, ground-dwelling giant apes that live in the tropical forests of central Sub-Saharan Africa. They are split into two species: eastern and western gorillas, with four or five subspecies in each. They are the world’s biggest primates. Gorillas share 95 to 99 percent of their DNA with humans, depending on what is included, and they are the next closest living cousins to humans after chimps and bonobos.

Gorillas are the world’s largest nonhuman primates, with heights ranging from 1.25 to 1.8 meters, weights ranging from 100 to 270 kilograms, and arm lengths of up to 2.6 meters, depending on species and sex. They usually dwell in groups, with a silverback as the leader. The Eastern gorilla differs from the Western gorilla by having a darker fur color and a few other physical characteristics. In the wild, gorillas live 35–40 years, while in captivity, they can live up to 60 years.

The native habitat of gorillas in Sub-Saharan Africa is tropical or subtropical woodland. Gorillas span a broad variety of altitudes, despite the fact that their range only covers a tiny portion of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Albertine Rift montane cloud forests of the Virunga Volcanoes, which range in altitude from 2,200 to 4,300 meters, are home to the mountain gorilla (7,200 to 14,100 ft). Lowland gorillas dwell in thick woods and lowland swamps and marshes as low as sea level, with western lowland gorillas found in Central West African nations and eastern lowland gorillas found along Rwanda’s border.

Despite possessing a population of up to 200,000 individuals, gorillas are among the world’s most endangered primates, with the IUCN classifying both the Eastern and Western Gorillas as Critically endangered. Poaching, habitat degradation, and illness are only a few of the challenges to the species’ existence. Conservation efforts, on the other hand, have been effective in some of the places where they reside.

Knuckle-walking is how gorillas get around, however they do occasionally walk upright for short distances, usually while transporting food or in defensive circumstances. A 2018 study of 77 mountain gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (8 percent of the population) discovered that they only walked on their knuckles 60% of the time, and they also supported their weight on their fists, the backs of their hands/feet, and the palms/soles (with the digits flexed). Only orangutans were considered to employ such a wide range of hand positions previously. Some studies on gorilla handedness have found no preference for either hand, while others have found right-hand dominance in the overall population.

According to studies, gorilla blood does not react to anti-A and anti-B monoclonal antibodies, which would suggest type O blood in humans. However, due to new sequences, it differs enough from the human ABO blood group system, which the other great apes fit into.

A gorilla’s lifespan is typically 35 to 40 years, however zoo gorillas can live up to 50 years in captivity. Colo, a 60-year-old female western gorilla at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, was the world’s oldest gorilla when she died on January 17, 2017.

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