Silverback Gorillas Overview, Primate, Habitat, Predators, Diet

Silverback gorillas are usually mistaken for different gorilla species, especially by first-time travelers with plans of tracking these Great Apes and if you are one of them, your view will change after reading this Article. It is worth noting that there are only two species of gorillas, which are each sub-categorized into two.

Western gorillas are sub-categorized into the western lowland and Cross River Gorillas while the Eastern gorillas are sub-divided into the Eastern lowland gorillas as well as the mountain gorillas. These four gorilla sub-species have their natural habitats in the dense rainforests of Africa. Silverback gorilla is imply a mature male gorilla (regardless of specie) and the name “silverback” is due to the saddle of the silver-grey hair that develops on their backs, shoulders, and hips. A male gorilla starts developing the distinctive patch of silver-grey hair on its back and hips at 12 years of age, hence known as a “silverback gorilla”.

A silverback gorilla is in most cases larger than an adult female, typically weighing from 150 to 240 kilograms compared to their counterparts that weigh from 70 to 100 kilograms. Silverback gorillas are also between 1.4 and 1.8 meters tall while their arms span from 2.3 to 1.6 meters.

Gorillas generally live in troops/families/groups comprising of one silverback (sometimes more than one) and several adult females, blackbacks, and babies.

You might imagine that size and the silver-grey patch hair on the back are the only characteristics that distinguish silverback gorillas but you are wrong because they also have large Canine teeth which also become obvious when they reach maturity.

Typically, when males become silverbacks, they tend to leave their families and form their own groups by forcefully grabbing females from their natal families or attracting the emigrating ones from other families. In every gorilla family, there is one dominant silverback, and other silverbacks that don’t leave opt to stay as subordinate to the leader (dominant silverback).

Dominant silverbacks are in charge of making of protecting their troop from any external threat (especially poachers and leopards) or making key family decisions like where they nest, and where they forage and is also the only one to mate with adult female gorillas. The dominant silverback also mediates conflicts and determines their movement on that particular day. The subordinate silverbacks and blackbacks (younger males) provide backup protection but aren’t also allowed to mate with females.

Once the leader dies, other silverbacks (most times the older and stronger) becomes dominant or try to mate with the adult females in the family (something they wouldn’t do as subordinate silverbacks).

In single-silverback gorilla families, in the event that the leader dies, adult females and their babies leave to find new families because, without a protector, their babies are likely to suffer the effects of infanticide. Therefore joining an already existing gorilla family is a strategy for protecting their babies from being killed during attacks from stray unhabituated silverbacks. However, there have been cases of female gorillas and their babies remaining together until a new silverback moved into the family.

Best time to undertake Gorilla tours

The four gorilla sub-species can be tracked across the African Continent but most mountain and the Eastern lowland gorillas are the most tracked. Maranatha Tours and Travel gorilla tours lead visitors to two fantastic countries (Uganda-Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park) and Rwanda-Volcanoes National Park).

These tours are undertaken all year round but the dry months are the peak. The months of January, February, June, July, August, September, and December are considered dry and marked by reduced rainfall levels hence making forest trails less muddy or slippery. This means the treks are less challenging but the wet months are characterized by heavy rains, which when combined with the rugged terrains and dense vegetation make walks more challenging.