Gorilla Worksheets & Facts

Premium

Download the Gorilla Worksheets & Facts

Click the button below to get instant access to these worksheets for use in the classroom or at a home.

Download This Worksheet

This download is exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members!
To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!

Sign Me Up

Already a member? Log in to download.

Download

Edit This Worksheet

Editing resources is available exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members.
To edit this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start editing!

Sign Up

Already a member? Log in to download.

Edit

This worksheet can be edited by Premium members using the free Google Slides online software. Click the Edit button above to get started.

The tropical woods of equatorial Africa are home to gorillas, great herbivorous apes that spend most of their time on the ground. The eastern and western gorillas are the two species that make up the genus Gorilla, and there are possibly four or five subspecies in total. Depending on what is considered, the similarity between human and gorilla DNA ranges from 95% to 99%. They are after chimpanzees and bonobos, the closest surviving cousins of humans.

See the fact file below for more information on the gorilla, or you can download our 31-page Gorilla worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Etymology

• The narrative of Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian adventurer who traveled to the coast of west Africa and the region that would become Sierra Leone in 500 BC, is where the name “gorilla” first appeared.
• The majority of the “savage people” the expedition saw were ladies with hairy bodies referred to as “Gorillae” by our interpreters.
• It is still being determined if explorers came into modern-day gorillas, another ape species, monkeys, or humans. Hanno is said to have brought back skins of gorilla women, which are said to have been stored at Carthage until Rome destroyed the city 350 years later, in 146 BC, after the Punic Wars.
• The western Gorilla was initially described in 1847 by American doctors and missionaries Thomas Staughton Savage and Jeffries Wyman using samples collected in Liberia.
• They gave it the name Troglodytes gorilla, the genus name for chimpanzees at the time. The term “species” is derived from the Ancient Greek term “tribe of hairy women” (gorillai), according to Hanno.

Evolution and Classification

• The other Homininae species, chimpanzees and humans, separated from a common ancestor around 7 million years ago, are the closest relatives of gorillas.
• The number of copies of each gene varies, even though there is only an average 1.6% difference between the human and Gorilla gene sequences.
• With three subspecies—the western lowland gorilla, the eastern lowland gorilla, and the mountain gorilla—gorillas were once considered a single species. There are now two species recognized, each with two subspecies.
• The third subspecies of one of the animals have reportedly been identified more recently. When their forest habitats dwindled and grew more isolated during the Ice Age, the many gorilla species and subspecies diverged from a single type.
• Gorillas can be classified according to differences in density, size, hair color, length, culture, and face breadth. Lowland gorilla population genetics indicate that the western and eastern lowland groups split apart around 261 thousand years ago.

Characteristics

• Male wild gorillas weigh between 136 and 227 kg (300 to 500 lb), and adult females weigh between 68 and 113 kg (150-250 lb). Male adults generally have an arm reach of between 2.3 and 2.6 meters and stand between 1.4 and 1.8 meters (4 ft 7 in. and 5 ft 11 in.) tall. Height: 7’7″ to 8’6″. The limbs of female gorillas are slimmer and trimmer. They are 1.25 to 1.5 meters tall. Male wild gorillas weigh between 136 and 227 kg (300 to 500 lb), and adult females weigh between 68 and 113 kg. (150-250 lb). Male adults typically stand between 1.4 and 1.8 meters (4 ft 7 in. and 5 ft 11 in.) tall and have an arm reach between 2.3 and 2.6 meters. 7’7″ to 8’6″ in height. Female gorillas have thinner, more slender limbs. 1.25 to 1.5 meters is their height.
• The mountain gorilla is the darkest-colored Gorilla, with the eastern Gorilla being darker than the western Gorilla. The thickest hair belongs to the mountain gorilla, and the western lowland gorilla can have a reddish forehead and be brown or gray. Lowland gorillas are also more slim and elegant than their hefty mountain counterparts.
• The eastern Gorilla has a longer face and a broader chest than the western Gorilla. Like humans, gorillas have distinctive fingerprints and dark brown eyes with a black ring around the iris.
• Gorillas knucklewalk when carrying food or defending themselves; however, they may occasionally walk upright for short distances. It observed that the 77 mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 2018 walked on their knuckles only 60% of the time; the other 40% supported their weight on their fists, the backs of their hands and feet, and the palms and soles of their feet (with the digits flexed).
• Studies have discovered that anti-A and anti-B monoclonal antibodies, which in humans would indicate type O blood, do not react with gorilla blood. Thanks to distinctive sequences, it is distinct enough to match the human ABO blood group system, into which the other great apes fit.
• The typical lifespan of a gorilla is 35 to 40 years, while some zoo gorillas may live for 50 years or longer. At 60 years old, Colo was the oldest Gorilla ever documented when she passed away on January 17, 2017, at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Ozzie was 61 when he passed away in January 2022.

Distribution and Habitat

• The Congo River and its tributaries divide the ranges of the two species, and gorillas have a spotty distribution. In contrast to the eastern Gorilla, the western Gorilla resides in west central Africa.
• Swamps and montane forests are both suitable habitats for gorillas. Eastern gorillas live between 650 and 4,000 m (2,130 and 13,120 ft) above sea level in montane and submontane forests.
• Eastern lowland gorillas reside in submontane woods at the lower back, whereas mountain gorillas live in montane forests at the upper end of the elevation range. Eastern lowland gorillas also inhabit montane bamboo forests and lowland forests, which range in altitude from 600-3,308 m (1,969-10,853 ft).
• Western gorillas are found in lowland wetlands and forests that range in elevation from sea level to 1,600 m. (5,200 ft). Cross River gorillas reside in low-lying and submontane woodlands between 150 to 1,600 m, whereas Western lowland gorillas occupy swamps and lowland forests up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft). (490-5,250 ft).

Ecology

Diet and Foraging

• A gorilla’s day is broken up into rest, movement, and eating intervals. Within and across species, diets vary. Fruit only makes up a minor portion of a mountain gorilla’s diet; most of their food is foliage, such as leaves, stems, piths, and shoots.
• Since there is plenty of food for mountain gorillas, individuals and groups must compete. Their daily travels typically cover no more than 500 m (0.31 mi), and their home ranges span from 3 to 15 km (1.2 to 5.8 sq mi). Mountain gorillas can survive in various environments and have a diverse diet while consuming only a few species.
• Eastern lowland gorillas eat a wider variety of seasonal foods. Although they frequently consume leaves and pith, 25% of their meals may include fruit. Lowland gorillas have longer daily distances to cover, and their home ranges span from 1.0 to 2.5 square miles (2.7 to 6.5 km) during the day and 154 to 2,280 m during the night (0.096-1,417 mi). Additionally, eastern lowland gorillas consume insects.
• Western lowland gorillas are more distributed throughout their habitat and depend more on fruits than other gorilla species. Although they occasionally have access to water herbs, western lowland gorillas have limited access to terrestrial plants. Ants and termites are also consumed.

Nesting

• Gorillas build nests to utilize both during the day and at night. Individuals build nests, typically simple collections of twigs and leaves measuring 2 to 5 ft (0.61 to 1.52 m) in diameter.
• Gorillas often sleep in ground-level nests, in contrast to chimpanzees or orangutans. The young build their first nests near their mothers until they are three when they begin to develop their own.
• The location and building of gorilla nests are based on chance, and the distribution of gorilla nests is random. Today, scientists believe that great apes’ nest-building is a vital tool rather than animal architecture.
• Every day, gorillas build a new nest to sleep in instead of using the old one. To be prepared for bed, they are made one hour before sunset. The typical amount of sleep time for gorillas is 12 hours per day.

Threats and Competition

• The leopard is one potential gorilla predator. The discovery of Gorilla remains in leopard scat may be the consequence of scavenging. An individual silverback will defend the group, even at the expense of his own life, when people, leopards, or other gorillas threaten it.
• When dining on the same tree, gorillas and chimpanzees often ignore or avoid one another. However, groups of chimpanzees have been seen murdering young gorillas and assaulting gorilla families, including silverbacks.

Behavior

Social Structure

• Gorillas are social animals who live in battalions. One adult male, or silverback, usually leads a harem of many adult females and their young. Multiple-male forces do exist, though.
• Males and females frequently leave their birth groups, and female mountain gorillas go to their birth battalions more regularly than males. Additionally, mountain and mountain often join second fresh groupings.
• Mature males also frequently emigrate from their groupings to form their battalions by luring incoming ladies. But male mountain gorillas sporadically remain in their birth battalions and submit to the silverback. These males could be able to take over or breed with the females if the silverback passes away.
• The silverback dominates the group’s attention; he makes all the choices, settles disputes, decides where they will go, directs them to the feeding grounds, and is responsible for their care.
• Males may step in if females quarrel for social access with males. In multi-man communities with apparent dominance hierarchies and fierce rivalry for mates, male gorillas show limited social ties.
• When two mountain gorilla groups collide, the two silverbacks may battle to the death, using their teeth to inflict severe, gaping wounds. Serious aggressiveness is uncommon in stable groups.

Reproduction and Parenting

• Males reach sexual maturity at 11–13, but females do so sooner in captivity. When Ae is six, she has her first ovulatory cycle, followed by two years of teenage infertility. Female mountain gorillas have four-year interbirth intervals and give birth for the first time at age 10. Males can become reproductive before they are fully grown. All year long, gorillas, mate.
• The ladies will approach a man gently and make eye contact as they seek him. It encourages the man to mount her. She will attempt to get the male’s attention by reaching toward or hitting the ground if he does not reply.
• Infant gorillas are helpless and needy; thus, m’s life depends on both them and their primary carers. Although male gorillas do not actively care for the young, they help to socialize with other young people.
• Moms stay close to the silverback during the first five months of a baby’s life for protection, and babies stay in touch with them. Infants feed at least once per hour as they sleep in the same nest as their moms.
• After five months, babies start to distance themselves from their mothers, but just for a moment at a time. Infants can walk up to five meters (16 feet) away from their mothers by the age of one year. When a child is 18 to 21 months old, the gap between the mother and child grows, and they increasingly spend time apart.
• Females ovulate and then fall pregnant again soon after weaning their young. The presence of playmates, such as a silverback, reduces disputes that might arise while a mother and her children are weaning.

Communication

• The vocalizations of 25 different species have been identified, many of which are primarily employed for group communication in deep foliage. The most common sounds made while moving are grunts and barks, which reveal the locations of specific group members.
• Deep, rumbling belches are commonly heard during eating and resting periods and indicate satisfaction. They are the most typical means of communication inside groups.

Because of this, disagreements are frequently settled by intimidating demonstrations and other non-physical intimidation techniques. The nine-step sequence includes the following:

1. They are progressively quickening hooting.
2. Symbolic feeding.
3. It was rising bipedally.
4. They throw vegetation.
5. Chest-beating with cupped hands.
6. One leg kick.
7. Sideways running, two-legged to four-legged.
8. They slap and tear vegetation.
9. They were thumping the ground with palms to end display.

• Depending on size, a gorilla’s chest beat may have different frequencies. Greater frequencies tend to be lower, while smaller and smaller ones are higher. They also do it most frequently when females are prepared for mating.

Intelligence

• Gorillas are said to be very clever animals, and some sign language has been taught to captive animals, including Koko. Gorillas, like the other great apes, have “deep emotional lives,” can laugh, cry, form close familial ties, utilize tools, and reflect on the past and the future.
• Some scientists think that gorillas have religious or spiritual beliefs. It has been demonstrated that they have distinct civilizations centered upon other food preparation techniques and will express personal color preferences.

Tool Use

• A crew from the Wildlife Conservation Society led by Thomas Breuer made the following observations in September 2005. Today, it is known that gorillas utilize tools in the wild.
•  In the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, was observed a female gorilla using a stick to measure the water level as she crossed a marsh. A second female was observed casting a line in the swamp while supporting herself on a tree stump. Today, it is known that all great apes use tools.
• In a wildlife refuge in the Republic of Congo, a two-and-a-half-year-old gorilla was seen using pebbles to crack open palm nuts.

Scientific Study

• Thomas Staughton Savage, an American physician, and a missionary obtained the original samples (the skull and other bones) while in Liberia. Savage and the scientist Jeffries Wyman gave the Troglodytes gorilla, also referred to as the western Gorilla, its scientific name.
• Years later, Dian Fossey carried out a far lengthier and more thorough study of the mountain gorilla at the request of Louis Leakey and National Geographic. Many misunderstandings and illusions regarding gorillas were debunked when she released her findings, including the idea that they are aggressive animals.

Genome Sequencing

• The genome of the Gorilla was the nearly last notable ape genus to be sequenced. Using DNA from Kamilah, a female western lowland gorilla, short read and Sanger sequencing were used to create the first gorilla genome.
• The researchers provided further information on the history and origins of humanity. Even though chimpanzees are our closest living cousins, 15% of the human genome is more similar to the Gorillas.
• The hypothesis that language developed rapidly in humans, as it did in gorillas, has been called into question by genomic analysis of the Gorilla.

Captivity

• Since the 19th century, western zoos have highly coveted gorillas, yet their early attempts to maintain them in captivity resulted in untimely deaths. The treatment of captive gorillas dramatically improved in the late 1920s.
• Gorillas in captivity engage in stereotypical behaviors such as overgrooming, pacing, rocking, lip-smacking, self-injurious violence, and eating disorders like regulation, reingestion, and coprophagy.
• A recent study on the welfare of captive gorillas highlights the need to move away from a one-size-fits-all group approach and toward individual evaluations to understand better how interest grows or decreases depending on various conditions.

Conservation Status

• The IUCN Red List categorizes every gorilla species (and subspecies) as endangered. All gorillas are included in CITES’ Appendix I, which means that their international export and import, as well as the trade in their parts and derivatives, is subject to regulation.
• Examples of conservation initiatives include the Great Apes Survival Project, a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme and UNESCO, and the Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats, a global agreement signed under the supervision of the Convention on Migratory Species.
• Although the governments of the nations where gorillas are found have outlawed the killing and trafficking of these animals, insufficient law enforcement means that gorillas are still in danger since criminals who benefit from gorilla poaching, trade, and consumption are seldom caught.

Gorilla Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about gorillas across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Gorilla worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the gorilla, which is a great herbivorous ape that spends most of its time on the ground and comprises five species.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

• Gorilla Facts
• Call Them Apes
• The Gentle Giant
• Gorilla Hunt
• Building Words
• To Serve and Protect
• Gorilla World
• Rules and Roles
• Answer to Me
• Act Now
• Much Like Us

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the two species of the genus Gorilla?

The eastern and western gorillas are the two species that make up the genus Gorilla, and there are possibly four or five subspecies in total. Depending on what is considered, the similarity between human and gorilla DNA ranges from 95% to 99%. 

What are the different characteristics of Eastern and Western Gorillas?

The eastern Gorilla has a longer face and a broader chest than the western Gorilla. 

What are the suitable habitats for Gorillas?

Swamps and montane forests are both suitable habitats for gorillas.

What are the threats and competition for Gorillas?

The leopard is one potential gorilla predator. The discovery of Gorilla remains in leopard scat may be the consequence of scavenging. An individual silverback will defend the group, even at the expense of his own life, when people, leopards, or other gorillas threaten it. When dining on the same tree, gorillas and chimpanzees often ignore or avoid one another. However, groups of chimpanzees have been seen murdering young gorillas and assaulting gorilla families, including silverbacks.

What is the conservation status of Gorillas?

The IUCN Red List categorizes every gorilla species (and subspecies) as endangered.

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Gorilla Worksheets & Facts: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, July 30, 2018