GORILLA

POPULATION 100,000 to 200,000 SCIENTIFIC NAME Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei HEIGHT 4-6 ft. WEIGHT up to 440 pounds Gorillas are gentle giants and display many human-like behaviors and emotions, such as laughter and sadness. In fact, gorillas share 98.3% of their genetic code with humans, making them our closest cousins after chimpanzees and bonobos. The largest of the great apes, gorillas are stocky animals with broad chests and shoulders, large, human-like hands, and small eyes set into hairless faces. The two gorilla species live in equatorial Africa, separated by about 560 miles of Congo Basin forest. Each has a lowland and upland subspecies. Gorillas live in family groups of usually five to 10, but sometimes two to more than 50, led by a dominant adult male—or silverback—who holds his position for years.

WHERE WILL YOU FIND THEM

Near the forest and by the shore