Like any other living creatures, Gorillas also have enemies which attack, threaten and sometimes kill them. Young Gorillas are at high risk than the mature ones… it should be noted that Gorillas co-exist with other wild animals, reptiles and birds among others given the fact that they spend most of their life time in their Natural habitats (Forests, bushes, Highlands etc).
Leave alone fellow animals, Man is also among the greatest threats to Gorillas through destroying Gorilla habitats, setting traps to capture them, poisoning and killing them for food.
More so, the Land is precious and is passed on to family members. There is also encroachment by humans into the park; this comes in the form of farms, tea plantations, mining in preserved areas set apart for conservation.
Man clear bushes by slashing and burning and it was hard to see how large tracks of Land should be left for Gorillas, it is through an educational process in both Rwanda – Uganda along with cash incentives to the community through tourism that the gorillas in Uganda are not as threatened by poachers as they might be in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
They are also threatened by diseases that humans may bring to the park, which is why strict rules are in place to prevent the spreading of disease from humans to Mountain Gorillas.
Leopards have the ability to kill an adult gorilla and leopards are found in parks such as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and so on.
Another case has been confirmed in Gabon, where a sick young gorilla was killed by a leopard.
HOW DO GORILLAS DEFEND THEM SELVES?
When a gorilla family threatened, the silver backs (Head of the family) give off a particularly intensive smell and emit characteristic sounds. The other animals gather together and hug each other or gather around the male. The male Gorillas take the leading role to fight the enemy in order to defend the entire group. They drive the group away from the source of danger and attack the enemy at the same time.
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