Mountain Gorilla Research Paper

My interest in gorillas started when I took my first trip to the zoo. I remember staring at the gorilla and how large and intimidating it looked. When I got home, I was still so fascinated with gorillas and decided to do more research. Their physique and intimidating look always captured my attention. I took more trips to the zoo just to have an encounter with a living gorilla. As I grew up, my interest in gorillas expanded and I would associate myself with anything gorilla-related. The more research I did, the more information I found out about how several gorillas, especially mountain gorillas, are endangered. One threat the mountain gorillas face is the destruction of habitat. Another threat they face is poachers who kill them for their valuable organs. Because these threats put the mountain gorillas at a greater risk of extinction, and in spite of the efforts of the International Gorilla Conservation …show more content…
Adult gorillas can be seven feet tall with an arm span of 8 feet (Hubert 1). “Gorillas have much larger teeth in the back of their mouth than humans do so that they can grind foliage, bark and bamboo’’ (Robin 1). Mountain gorillas stand out from the three other gorilla subspecies because of their thick coats, which insulates them from the cold of their cloud forest homes (David1). ‘’Communication between gorillas is accomplished by stomach rumbling which means they are contented, a pig grunt of harsh staccato grunts used when disciplining or complaining’’ (Robin 1). They live in cohesive social units known as groups (Heckel 1). ‘’Typical groups consist of 1 dominant silverback, which is a sexually mature male that is 15 years old, that is the group’s definite leader and weighs at least 400 pounds or twice the size of a female’’ (Heckel 1). The Mountain Gorilla is shy and retiring rather than ferocious and treacherous