![]() ![]() Subordinate silverbacks share the job of protecting and directing the group, and while dominant males generally sire the majority of offspring, some subordinate males also reproduce. Because males don’t transfer between groups (unlike females), subordinate silverbacks in a group were born into that group and at some point decide if they will stay and try to inherit dominance or if they will strike out on their own and try to attract females away from other groups to form their own family. However, around 40% of mountain gorilla groups contain multiple adult silverbacks! In these groups, there is a hierarchy among the males, and there is still a single male who is dominant over all other individuals (called the dominant or alpha silverback). This silverback will act as the dominant individual in the group and make decisions about where to travel and when to stop, as well as protect the females and young gorillas. Mountain gorilla groups may have more than one silverbackįamily groups of three of the four gorilla subspecies typically have only one adult male gorilla, known as a silverback.Adult male mountain gorillas are called silverbacks because of the silver saddle running across their back and hips. They wander in home ranges of 10 to 15 square miles. They inhabit the Albertine Rift cloud forest and the Virunga Volcanoes in Central Africa. Despite their huge size, mountain gorillas can climb fruiting trees. With their thicker fur, they can live at high altitude and in colder climates. They are terrestrial and quadrupedal primates, which means they spend more time on the ground than in trees and walk on four limbs. Like other great apes, they have longer arms than legs. Along with chimpanzees, orangutans and bonobos, gorillas are considered one of the great apes.Ĭompared to other species of gorilla, mountain gorillas have thicker and longer fur. ![]() The silverback is responsible for protecting and leading a troop of five to thirty mountain gorillas on where to migrate, forage for food and even rest. Mountain gorillas are one of the two subspecies of the Eastern gorilla found in the mountainous forest of East and Central Africa. A silverback gorilla is a mature male mountain gorilla with silver saddles across his back and hips. ![]()
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