What Do Gorillas Eat? -Gorilla Diet and Eating Habits

What Do Gorillas Eat? The type of food that gorillas eat depends entirely on what their habitat provides and on the time of the year. For example Mountain gorillas mainly feed on green plant parts whereas lowland gorillas eat a lot of fruits. However, due to the limited availability of juicy fruits during the dry season the gorillas have to eat more seeds and tree bark instead. Usually, fruits grow on trees and gorillas of all ages climb these trees to harvest them. However much western gorillas eat a higher percentage of fruit than of leaves, stems, pith and shoots, they still eat less fruit than do chimpanzees and orangutans.

What Do Gorillas Eat? -Gorilla Diet and Eating Habits
Mountain Gorilla Eating

What is the Composition of Gorillas Diet?

Around 85% of Gorillas diet is made up of shoots, stems and leaves though they also feed on larvae, ants, rotting wood, snails, roots and bark. The western gorillas’ food range is wide and capable of feeding on 200 plant species. It comprises of plants from arrowroot and ginger families. Unlike western gorillas, mountain gorillas on the other hand feed on about 142 different species of plants including thistles, gallium, nettles and celery. Mountain gorillas spend most of their day feeding on shoots, leaves, stems of plants which represent about 86% of their diet. About 7% of these apes’ diet consists of edible roots, 3% consists of flowers while 2% is mainly fruits.

What Do Mountain Gorillas Eat?

Mountain gorillas are typical example when it comes to selective feeding habits. They feed on various parts of the plants –they can feed on roots, stems, leaves and fruits. The mountain gorillas live only in the wild particularly in Uganda, Congo and Rwanda. About 1063 of these amazing apes still survive on the planet earth and it is possible to encounter them on a gorilla safari with your trusted tour operator on the ground –Engabi Tours and Travel.

Given the fact that mountain gorillas often spend most of their time at the higher altitude, they may not find much fruits unlike their counterparts the lowland gorillas whose diet largely consists of fruits. Mountain gorillas at times depend on snails, ants, grubs and these make up 2 percent of their diet. A mature mountain gorilla can consume over 18kg of food daily. They are afraid of water and most of the plants they feed on is highly succulent which makes them usually survive without taking much water.

Mountain gorillas are generally huge and strong naturally. They make the best use of their strength to break up vegetation in order to eat their favorite plant parts. In general, gorillas play a significant part in their ecological niche. They are a few selective species and when feeding, they never finish all the vegetation. There is room for regrowth of vegetation and they move from one area to another. Their unique feeding habit allows faster replenishment to take place.

What Do Eastern and Western Lowland Gorillas Eat?

The western lowland gorillas are interesting gorilla subspecies and can feed on over 97 different plant species parts. Over 67 percent of western lowland gorillas diet comprise of fruits while 17% is made of seeds, leaves and stems and the 3% is composed of caterpillars and termites.

The Eastern lowland gorilla subspecies and can eat parts of over 104 species of plants. The cross river gorilla –gorilla gorilla diehli diet is composed of leaves, fruits, stems, piths and at times invertebrates. A mature grauer’s gorilla male can feed on over 30 kg of plants each day while a female adult can feed on 18 kg. They can chew the plant material to aid its digestion process. Gorillas have strong chewing muscles and teeth made like those of humans, although theirs are a bit long with pointed canines. The Eastern lowland gorillas inhabit most parts of the D.R. Congo, particularly the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Maiko National Park. The western gorilla largely occupy West African countries; Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Cameroon and D.R. Congo.

What Do Infant Gorillas Eat?

Infant gorillas are not born with teeth and therefor like all mammals, newborn gorillas feed by drinking their mother’s milk. As infants begin to eat solid foods, their baby teeth or deciduous teeth will grow in and eventually they’ll lose their baby teeth and grow adult teeth!

Do Gorillas Eat Meat; Are Gorillas Carnivores Or Omnivores?

No, Gorillas stick to a mainly vegetarian diet feeding on stems, bamboo shoots and fruits. Western lowland gorillas however, have an appetite for termites and ants and break open termite nests to eat the larvae. Therefore, Gorillas are not considered carnivores in the wild despite the fact that they may consume meat when it is served to them in zoos.

How do gorillas forage for food?

Gorillas like most apes and humans use senses. They depend on sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing to locate food and also survive in the wild. Smell and sights are amazingly the most valuable senses among gorillas when searching for food. They are can see in color and this sense lets them detect the ripe plants to feed on.

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