What Happens When a Gorilla Family Member Passes on?

Some mountain gorilla behaviors are not easily observed or studied by researchers, one being the reaction of family members when one of them passes on. It is on rare occasions that Gorilla researchers are able to observe the behavior of these Giant Apes after a family member has died. Nonetheless, more often seen is how mother gorillas react to the passing of their babies and like any mother; it is the most painful moment which might break your heart.

In most cases, mother of the deceased baby will carry and move with it for days and sometimes even weeks, as a way of grooming the dead body. No mother wouldn’t be touched by this behavior and for the gorillas, it is possibly attributed to the unbreakably strong maternal intuition that deters them from abandoning/leaving their dead babies. Additionally, it is believed that mothers take long to recognize and be sure whether their babies are actually dead or rather unconscious. Whichever case it is, it is still heartbreaking. Also, other family members are sometimes interested in the dead infant gorilla.

When adult gorillas pass on, other family members will show more interest and grieve for some time. If it is the female gorilla that died, other family members, most especially the deceased offspring/s will stay in close proximity with the corpse for several hours. The passing on of dominant silverbacks brings more worry than grief in addition to clear reactions being exhibited. In such circumstances, other family members oftentimes stay near the dead male for a real long period of time while observing in addition to sometimes conscientiously going towards and touching or grooming the corpse.

Other silverbacks in the family will exhibit a number of display behavior in addition to producing alarm vocalizations that are likely to be a sign of stress or trying to wake up the deceased gorilla. This was evidenced with Titus and Tuck silverbacks where the family literally spent the entire night close to the dead body as well as remaining there for many hours the next day. At this point, lives of surviving members are left to fate, whereby the group is either peacefully taken over by a silverback from the family or fights first ensures between subordinate silverbacks or with lone male gorillas.

Following the death of 21-year old Silverback Urugamba (one of the gorilla families observed by Dian Fossey) in Volcanoes National Park, researchers discovered that majority of its family members (that included only two adult females and a number of youngsters) joined Ntambara Group after a successful interaction just days after the passing of their leader. However, one of the mother gorillas (named Bishushwe) resisted joining Ntarama group for fear of her baby (Amatwara) being killed by the dominant silverback.

Given the highly social nature of gorillas as well as the dominant silverbacks being the key figure in families or their society, seeing what happens after their death (although sad) is one of the key insights into how the Giant Apes make final decisions that will shape their social World. As more and more research is done on some of these exceptional behaviors, there is the hope of providing a better understanding of these Giant Apes’ behavior.

Perfect time of year to visit gorillas

The dry season, typically between June and September as well as December to February is perfect for visiting gorillas. During these months, most forest trails are accessible because of little or total absence of rains. However, remember that gorillas live in dense rainforests that experience rains almost all year round hence it is good to travel prepared for any weather.