Gorillas are great Ape species that thrive in the tropical rain forests
of Africa with groups thriving in low land ecosystems and mountain ecosystems
that include the Virunga ranges and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park where the
gorilla trekking safaris in Uganda and Rwanda are always conducted. The Mountain gorilla`s feeding is mainly subject
to their habitat, time of the year and the weather patterns.
The feeding of Mountain gorillas heavily depends on green
plant which is different to those of the low land gorillas that enjoy plenty of
fruits though during dry spells the fruits tend to plummet forcing these
species of gorillas to enjoy plenty of seeds and tree barks closer to their
territory.
The Low land gorillas
adapt to climbing in order to harvest fruits but it should be noted that they
cannot consume plenty of fruit as orangutans and Chimpanzees do interestingly,
the western low land gorillas have a wider food basket stretching to 200
species of plants especially belonging to the families of arrowroot and ginger
plants.
Western lowland gorillas die of slowly due to the presence
of the nearby mountain gorillas that thrive in Virunga and Bwindi and are well
known for over eating. These mountain gorillas consume up to 30 plant species
especially of thistles, gallium, nettles and celery mainly in fact the old male
gorilla consumes 30kg a day while females consumes 18kg of plantain a day due
to the strong chewing gorilla used to process these plants along with their
teeth that resembles those of the humans with exception of the long pointed canines.
The plants aside, the
mountain gorillas consume soil to add minerals that are absent in the plant
feeds but also to neutralize poisonous substances that exist in the plantain
they feed on. They also consume some insects at a small percentage but they do
not hunt big game.
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