11 wildly fun facts about mountain gorillas

A fully grown male mountain gorilla has trunk-like forearms, a forehead that looks designed for ramming, the very definition of a barrel chest, and enormous canines. So most humans will look at them and think: that animal is formidable.

But did you know that they're even stronger than they look?

Scientists think that a fully grown male (known as a silverback) is four to 10 times stronger than the average adult human male. What's more, their bite force is around 1,300 pounds per square inch (PSI), while that of a male lion is around 650 PSI).

A silverback can also lift around 815 kg (1,800 lb); the strongest human weightlifters max out at around 500 kg (1,100 lb). Interestingly, they have denser muscle fibres than humans, which is what gives them this explosive strength.

But they mostly use this strength in daily 'chores', like lifting massive logs, snapping thick bamboo stalks, and holding onto things when they're climbing, pulling or tearing their way through the dense jungle.

A male gorilla charging at another male gorilla

You've likely heard mountain gorillas referred to as gentle giants. It's this very gentle nature that allows people to visit habituated troops and stand only metres away from them while remaining perfectly safe.

There are only really two occasions when mountain gorillas employ their full strength, and it's usually the adult males who are stepping up to the plate:

When adult males (called silverbacks) confront one another, it's usually over mating opportunities or troop dominance. For instance, two silverbacks might fight if the younger male tries to form a splinter troop.

When two silverbacks do fight, they start by beating their chests, roaring and grunting, charging, throwing things, and standing on their hind legs to make themselves look bigger. That said, things do sometimes escalate into violence, and this can involve biting, hitting and wrestling. They usually don't fight till the death, however, as the weaker opponent will generally concede before that stage.

All of the world's mountain gorillas live in just two mountainous, forested ecosystems in Central and East Africa.

The larger population of mountain gorillas can be found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda. This is where most gorilla trekking takes place, as there are more trekking permits on offer.

The smaller population lives in a transnational ecosystem that can be found at the tri-border region of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda. Specifically, this fenceless habitat is protected by the following three parks:

All of these four protected areas together are only about two thirds the size of Hong Kong. So that's a fairly small territorial range for these great apes.

Mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda

No mountain gorillas live in captivity. Some did get taken to zoos in the past, but they never lived very long there, so wonderfully that doesn't happen anymore. Scientists now study them exclusively within their natural habitat.

This also means that if you want to see a mountain gorilla, you have to travel to East or Central Africa and trek into the jungle to find a troop. This is a highly sought-after wildlife encounter referred to as gorilla trekking. There are limited gorilla trekking permits available each day, so you have to book months in advance to secure your spot.

Those canines are fierce but they're not used for eating meat

Mountain gorilla's powerful jaws and enormous teeth aren't used to capture prey, as they're almost almost entirely vegetarian! The animals that they do eat are just littlies like ants, termites and caterpillars, as these provide some helpful protein.

Mostly, mountain gorillas eat stems, shoots, leaves, fruits and wild mushrooms. Sometimes they also chew on tree bark. So all in all, they have a low-fat, high-fibre and plant-rich diet! Vegan bodybuilders around the world should make the mountain gorilla their mascot.

Speaking of their diet, mountain gorillas sometimes lick or eat soil to get minerals they're craving like sodium, calcium and magnesium.

Moreover, the mountain gorillas living within the Virungas range (versus those living in Bwindi Forest) are living on the slopes of volcanic mountains. So they also occasionally eat volcanic ash as they can help to neutralise any toxins from certain plants they've eaten.

A beautiful silverback

Mature adult males have a swathe of grey fur that stretches across their backs and peters out on their sides as it nears the tummy. This is why they're called silverbacks. This feature isn't unique to mountain gorillas, but also extends to the other subspecies of gorilla.

In mountain gorillas, the silver fur only comes in around age 12. But before you associate it in your mind to old age, note that mountain gorillas typically live upwards of 35 years. Some even make it to their mid 40s. So silverbacks aren't necessarily old gorillas.

Younger males who haven't as yet developed silver fur on their backs are known (surprise, surprise) as blackbacks.

Gorillas have excellent facial recognition, so they can distinguish family members simply by looking into their faces. That said, they can also recognise each other based on body size, posture and movements.

In addition to sight-based cues, mountain gorillas can recognise each other based on vocal cues like grunts and hoots.

Finally, mountain gorillas can also tell each other apart based on each one's unique body odour. This isn't, however, the primary way they tell each other apart. The more important consequences of their keen sense of smell is that it helps to create emotional bonds and tells them things like when another is stressed or ready to mate.

Every troop has a silverback as a leader

Certain mammals are renowned for their stellar memories, and mountain gorillas are among them.

While mountain gorillas can't compete with certain memory rockstars like elephants, dolphins and chimps, they're still topnotch rememberers. For instance, mountain gorillas can:

Mountain gorillas live in troops typically consisting of a silverback (the leader), several females, their children, and sometimes also a few subordinate males. The silverback is the group's protector, decision-maker, conflict mediator and mating partner for the females.

Even though they spend all of their time together, the females form strong bonds with the silverback rather than with each other. The youngsters, however, play and form social ties with each other. When the young males and females reach maturity, they often leave the troop to form new ones, and this helps to ensure genetic diversity.

A silverback gorilla lying on his tummy

Similarly to human fingerprints, each mountain gorilla has a unique noseprint. More specifically, each gorilla's nose presents a pattern of wrinkles and ridges that is theirs alone.

What's particularly helpful about this in terms of gorilla conservation is that researchers are able to use close-up photographs of individuals' snouts to identify and study them. Usually, wild animals need to be tagged to be studied. But gorillas' unique noseprints allow scientists to snap pics and then monitor the troops without needing to tranquilise and physically handle any of the animals.

And now you know!