“Gorillas share about 98 percent of their DNA with humans.”
Western gorillas move through Central African forests in social groups usually led by a mature silverback. They feed mainly on fruit, leaves, and stems, build fresh sleeping nests, and remain Critically Endangered as habitat loss, hunting, and disease reduce wild populations.
By An Nguyen · Published · Updated
Gorilla gorilla Primates Hominidae
Measured against the 176 species profiled on this site. Each figure is converted to one unit system from the published range on the page, so the ranks are computed, not quoted.
| Measure | This species | Rank here | Exceeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body mass | 199.6 kg | #38 of 176#29 of 90 Mammalia | 78% |
| Body length | 1.83 m | #53 of 176#35 of 90 Mammalia | 70% |
| Top speed | 40.2 km/h | #48 of 75#32 of 46 Mammalia | 31% |
| Lifespan in the wild | 40 yr | #28 of 169#14 of 85 Mammalia | 82% |
Closest in body mass
Ranks use the upper end of each published adult range, so they compare typical large adults rather than records, and metrics with no published number are left out rather than estimated. The full table is downloadable from the species dataset, and any two species can be put side by side in the comparison tool.
Browse photographs of western gorilla across habitat, behavior, anatomy, and life stages.
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Core article
A closer look at habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and conservation.
Gorillas are the largest living primates, inhabiting the tropical and swamp forests of equatorial Africa. This profile focuses on the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), which feeds on fruit, leaves, stems, and other plant material and lives mostly in groups led by a mature silverback, its days built around foraging, resting, travel, and caring for young. Gorillas share about 98% of their DNA with humans, a mark of their place in the great-ape family.
Gorillas show marked sexual dimorphism. Adult males — silverbacks, for the gray-white hair that spreads across the back and hips — are far larger than females: a mature silverback stands 4.5 to 5.5 feet upright, reaches 6 feet in body length, and weighs 300 to 440 pounds, while females weigh 150 to 250. Their usual gait is knuckle-walking, the upper body carried on the backs of the middle finger bones, which keeps the opposable thumbs free for handling food and grooming, though they can burst to 25 mph on the ground. Adult males carry a prominent sagittal crest anchoring the temporalis muscles that process coarse plants, with broad flat molars to grind leaves and stems, and long arms — often spanning wider than their height — for moving and breaking vegetation. They belong to the great-ape family Hominidae alongside chimpanzees, orangutans, and humans; the gorilla lineage split from the ancestor shared with humans and chimps about 7 to 9 million years ago.
Western gorillas occur in the equatorial forests of Central and West Africa — Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Angola — with western lowland gorillas using lowland tropical forest and swamp forest. These high-rainfall forests hold diverse plant communities, and swamp forest adds aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation to the seasonal diet. Gorillas spend most of their time on the ground, though females and juveniles climb more to forage or play, and the forest supplies food, nesting material, and cover. West and Central African forests also support the mandrill, a smaller ground-foraging primate with very different ecology.
Gorillas feed mainly on low-calorie, fibrous plants, and an adult silverback can eat dozens of pounds of vegetation a day. The exact diet shifts with season and place and can span hundreds of plant species, with leaves, pith, stems, and shoots forming much of the daily intake; when fruit is available, they eat more of it. Their hands strip bark to reach the cambium beneath, and large molars and jaw muscles process bamboo shoots and fibrous stalks. Small insects and grubs are swallowed with vegetation but are only a minor part of the diet, and foraging fills much of the day between rest and social activity.
Gorillas live in groups (troops or bands) of usually 5 to 30, led by a mature silverback who mediates conflicts, sets travel and foraging routes, and defends the group from rival males and predators like leopards. Members communicate through vocalizations, postures, and expressions, and chest-beating, hooting, vegetation-pulling, and short charges can settle status or deter a rival without contact. Reciprocal grooming maintains social bonds; when a new silverback takes over, he may kill dependent infants, after which females can return to estrus. Each evening gorillas build a fresh sleeping nest of branches and leaves, on the ground or in low branches.
Gorillas mature and reproduce slowly. Females reach sexual maturity at 10 to 12 years, males later, and after about 8.5 months' gestation a female usually bears a single infant (twins are rare). A newborn weighs around 4 pounds and depends on its mother for food and transport, clinging to her underside and later riding her back, nursing for 3 to 4 years while learning foraging and social behavior from the group. Females typically give birth only once every 4 to 6 years, which limits how fast a population can recover. Wild gorillas commonly live 35 to 40 years, and 50 or more in human care.
The western gorilla is Critically Endangered with a decreasing trend. Logging, agriculture, and mining clear and fragment its tropical forest, separating groups, limiting movement, and reducing genetic exchange. Logging roads also open access for hunters in the illegal bushmeat trade, and gorillas are highly susceptible to human- and primate-borne disease, with Ebola outbreaks causing large local declines. Conservation includes anti-poaching patrols, habitat protection, health monitoring, and community-based tourism.
Gorillas share about 98 percent of their DNA with humans.
A dominant male gorilla is called a silverback because of the gray hair on his back.
Gorillas build a new leafy nest to sleep in almost every night.
Adult gorillas eat dozens of pounds of vegetation each day.
Gorillas usually beat their chests to warn rivals, not to start a fight.
Infants learn by watching mothers and other troop members.
Select a question to reveal the answer.
Western lowland gorillas live in tropical forests and swampy lowlands in central and western Africa.
Gorillas are mostly herbivores. They eat leaves, stems, fruit, and other forest plants.
Gorillas are usually calm, but a silverback will defend his troop if he feels threatened. Wild gorillas should never be approached.
Yes. Western gorillas are listed as Critically Endangered because of habitat loss, disease, and hunting.
Gorillas live in troops led by one dominant silverback male, along with females and young gorillas.
Gorillas are great apes and are closely related to humans and chimpanzees.
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