Comparing Lowland Gorillas Vs Mountain Gorillas
Let us look at our closest relative after Chimpanzees and bonobos. Eastern gorillas do share 93% of the DNA with human. Both lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas are of western gorilla family.
These great apes are found in east and central Africa. They are critically endangered with the population of mountain gorillas estimated to be less than 1000. With Bwindi impenetrable national park inhabit over 50 percent of these gorillas. Other places where Mountain gorillas can be found are Mgahinga National park, Volcanoes National Park and Virunga National Park. All these parks are found in the Virunga mountains also known as Virunga range or Virunga mountains.
On the other hand, lowland gorillas are estimated to have a population of approximately 800 members that do still exist. The actual counting hasn’t been conducted for a while due to political instabilities in Kahuzi-Biega National Park where these great apes live.
If you are trekking gorillas for the first time, you will hardly differentiate between the mountain gorillas and the lowland gorillas because of their close resemblances however these creatures are generally different for those who know them. At the end of this article, you too will be an expert in differentiating between the Mountain gorillas and Lowland gorillas
Let’s go,
The physical difference between the lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas
Mountain gorillas are bigger with long dark hair since they leave in higher altitude with the freezing temperature. The long dark hair helps them to adapt to the environment. On the other hand, the lowland gorillas are smaller (about 50 kilograms smaller than the mountain gorillas) with less far and their furs are light. The biggest mountain gorillas can go up to 200 kilograms while the biggest lowland gorilla can go up to 150 kilograms.
Furthermore, mountain gorillas have got larger nose, jaw and bigger teeth compare to the lowland gorillas
The social differences: Lowland gorillas Vs Mountain gorillas
The mountain gorilla group is made up of one gorilla family led by the dominant silver back but usually with other silverbacks, blackbacks, juveniles, infants and Female Mountain gorillas. The group/family usually range between 5 to 25 members.
On the other side the group of lowland gorillas is composed of different families each family is of 4 to 8 members led by the silverback, but the group can constitute close to 10 different families or 50 gorillas.
The difference in habitats: Lowland Gorillas vs Mountain Gorillas
Mountain gorillas live in higher altitudes of mountain and as of today they only live in higher altitude of Virunga massif. They are adaptive to the cooler temperature that are associated with the higher altitude. They only exist in 3 countries, that is Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
On the other hand, the lowland gorillas live on the lower altitude at the edges of forests, swampland or savanna land while hunting for the food. Currently you can be able to track lowland gorillas from Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Gabon and Angola.
The diet difference: Mountain gorillas vs lowland gorillas
Generally, both gorilla species are herbivores but due to habitat difference mountain gorillas majorly feeds on plantations like the bamboo shoots, stems, flowers, tree barks, and leaves. On rare occasion they can be seen feeding on insects.
On the other hand, the lowland gorillas on top of plantation, they also feed on insect and some small reptiles.
BOOK YOUR EAST AFRICAN SAFARI MEET BOTH GORILLA SPECIES IN THEIR HABITATS