Also the diet of the mountain gorillas largely consists of foliage. There are over 142 different plants, whose leaves, shoots and the stems are also eaten, constituting of gorilla food. This helps in the growth of these gorillas and this has increased their numbers which has contributed to more gorilla trekking safaris to Uganda. However, for the shoots, the gorillas also enjoy mainly the rainy season mountain bamboos when still green and tender. This is because the bamboo shoots are 84% water the supplement of trocatea, the young bamboo leaves, tsile’s leaves, stems, the flowers and the roots. Also celery’s stem without the tree bark, urela cameronesis leaves and the stem bark and the dry season black berries grown on high attitude provides a nutritious delicacy for the mountain gorillas.
The eating habits of the mountain gorillas also depend on the prevailing situation in a particular group. Normally gorillas have three intervals of rest between each feeding, which also amounts to 40% of an area which are plenty of food, they will also feed and then rest for longer periods compared to times and the movement into a sector of limited food availability. They also become dormant in case it’s raining heavily. These mountain gorillas also spend a lot of their time traveling and foraging in search of food, because the plants and the tress change with the seasons. The full grown mountain gorillas can also eat up to 60 pounds of the vegetation a day.
The mountain gorillas have a slow rate of reproduction and the slow reproduction rates also makes this species even more threatened. The females also reach sexual maturity at age of 7 or 8, but don’t begin to breed immediately until they are 10 years or older. And due to the competition between the males for access to the females, few wild males breed before they reach 15 years old. Just eight or a half months or full nine months after mating a female produces a single young and in rare cases the twins. The young ones are usually weaned by three years old, and females can give every four years.
The mothers also share a very close bond and relationship with their infants for about 4 years, and after which another sibling may be born. A mother gorilla will breast feed her baby for three and half years and will also have a maximum of six babies with spacing of four years. On reaching sexual maturity, between ages seven and ten, the young gorillas also strike out on their own, seeking new groups or mates. The zoo gorillas may reach sexual maturity before seven years old, and may have young every two to three years. These species have attracted many gorilla tracking tours to the country.
The mountain gorillas normally live in groups of one or two adult males and several younger males, adult females, the juveniles and the infants. The dominant silverback is the center of attention during rest sessions and the mediates conflicts within the group.The silverback forms special bonds with the adult females in the group and fathers most of the offspring. The mountain gorilla females can begin motherhood around the age of 10. The mother gorillas also initially hold new born close to their chest, but the infants soon learn how to hold on for it.these young ones later learn how to ride.
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