How Often Do Gorillas Give Birth?
HOW OFTEN DO GORILLAS GIVE BIRTH?
How Often Do Gorillas Give Birth? : Gorillas in Africa are quite rewarding primate species that tourists interested in having the best African safaris should not miss out on visiting given the fact that they are endangered species and also are among the closest relatives to the humans. Gorillas in their natural habitats are quite rewarding species with a number of features that you will get to understand if you spend one hour with them observing their behavior in their habituated gorilla families, some of the national parks you can visit while taking part in gorilla trekking in Africa include Salonga national park, kahuzi biega national park, Virunga national park, volcanoes national park, Bwindi impenetrable national park, Mgahinga national park and many other interesting features like their feeding patterns, their social structure, what they eat and how often they give birth which is among the most sked questions by tourists that take part in gorilla trekking in Africa.
Before gorillas give birth, there are a number of situations they have to overcome in order to win mating privileges with the adult male of the group that has all the mating rights in the group/ family. It should be noted that the dominant silver back is the only males in the gorilla family that has the right to mate with the adult females of the group who have to devise all means to win him over so that he mates with them and by this in every gorilla family, the adult females are quite aggressive towards one another because of the need for attention from the dominant silver back and the need for protection from any harm.
Interesting about the females is the fact that when they are ovulating, they will pursue the male by making lip movements and eye contact with them, carryout the a number of indicators to show that she is ready for mating like hitting the ground / slapping it to attract his attention and if they are lucky enough, when the male is enticed, he will show interest by touching the female and thus intercourse and when the females get pregnant, it takes 8.5 months for the female to give birth to an ‘’infant. From the time when the infant is brought into the world, he sleeps with his mother and the dominant silverback has the duty to protect it from any harm which is usually other black backs that fear losing the chance to rule the gorilla family, the dominant silver back will protect the gorilla family from external threats but much emphasis is put on the adult female and the infant.
Although gorillas are our closest relatively with DNA of 98.3%, they’re a quite different in a number of different ways for instance the gestation period of a woman is 9 months and that of the gorilla is 8.5 months and it is important to note that a gorilla gives birth to one infant however in Virunga national park and Bwindi impenetrable national park, you will get to see the adult females in the gorilla families that gave birth to twins which is quite an unusual trail in gorillas and because of this one or all the infants die. It should also be noted that the gorilla can take up to 4-6 years before they get pregnant again and with this slow rate of giving birth it is a threat to their population survival in case of any threat that directly attack their numbers that is why poaching of gorillas is punishable by law and this has led to the establishment of number of measures to ensure that their numbers are protected for their sustainability.
