Compare And Contrast The Behaviors Of Western Lowland Gorillas

The Gorilla beringei beringei or mountain gorilla, was first discovered on October 17th 1902, by a German officer named Captain Robert von Beringe (Berggorilla and Direkthilfe, 2002). Mountain gorillas play a large role in it’s particular ecosystem through consumption the gorillas control and maintain vegetation that is vital for a healthy environment not only for the primate but also other species that live in the environment as well. Since the discovery of the mountain gorilla much fascination has been drawn toward the species. However, the gentle creature’s population has had a sharp decline from Rwanda’s belief in sumu, poaching, human disease, and unregulated tourism. In efforts to revive the species population from extinction, persistent activism through worldly foundations are helping protect the mountain gorilla species.

Within these small groups, the Cross River Gorilla has very predominant traits to keep them alive when almost extinct and facing a harsh environment (What’s Our Mission). These gorillas have a considerably large body size and they also have quite large hands but short forearms; along with small forward facing eyes that are put close together on top of a large nasal region (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N,). Due to being so big they need a lot of nutrients, and in order to obtain enough food, they eat a large array of diets such as plants in many varieties, and fruits (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N.). Since they live in the higher parts of the mountains near the border of Nigeria, the amount of fruit trees that exist are much lower than other regions, so they have come to rely on vegetation (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N.). Since almost all fruit is seasonal, the primates must learn when they can eat one type, and when vegetation is important. (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N.), (Imong, I., & Robbins, M.). The food they eat also determines how sexually successful they will be in the coming years.

Gorillas never sleep in the same place for more than one night. Even when they nap during the day and then sleep in the same area at night they will create a new nest each time. Mothers usually share their nests with nursing infants. Infants are helpless at birth, they learn to crawl at first and slowly begin walking.

But Harambe was born and raised at Cincinnati Zoo. This specific gorilla had no wild instincts whatsoever. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be in the wild and experience a true intruder. He does have natural gorilla instincts but because he was born and raised in the zoo he is technically very calm for a silverback gorilla. I believe the zoo could have taken another route originally when the boy fell in before Harambe had gotten near him.

This paper aims to study the traits of non-human primates. By observing two types of primates including Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorillas), I try to find out their characteristics, pattern of their behavior, and differences between these two primate species. Especially, characteristics and behavior such as social interaction, food acquisition and intelligence will be discussed and compared in this paper. In order to enhance the persuasiveness of my observation, I recorded and examined at least 25 distinct characteristics of both Common Squirrel Monkeys and Western Gorillas. It is also helpful for me to compare these two primates. Apart from exploring the primates’ traits and differentiation between them, this paper will discuss the effects of captivity. How being in captivity and on display in a zoo would influence their behaviors and emotions? The observation was a great success and I have successfully derived with a hypothesis base on our observing data. The ultimate goal of this paper is arousing humans’ awareness of the importance of studying primates.

The study of primates has been a common field of study for a long time. The studies are carried out for different reasons but the common reason is trying to understand human beings better. Studies have revealed that the behavior of primates is similar to that of human beings on different aspects. Human beings and primates have a history of being related based on the evolution stories. The earliest human beings are believed to have been apes and evolved from there.

“Non-human primates, due to their level of intelligence when compared to other animals, and also due to their evolutionary closeness to man are maintained in several types of captive facilities like laboratories, zoological parks, animal circuses and conservation breeding centres” (Mallapur 2005). Non-human primates are the closes species to human-kind compared to others. The intelligence they contain and their relatively comparable behaviors they have with human-kind make them a fascinating study. They are kept for observation and research; but many of the enclosure sceneries evoke abnormal behavior patterns among non-human primates. Maintaining a satisfied non-human primate in captivity can be challenging.

During my research of Orangutans and Mandrills I observed them in captivity at the San Diego Zoo. My observations included a 20 minute observation of each primate as it cohabitated with other Primates and with other members of its own species. My findings will support the research of Orangutans and Mandrills through firsthand observations.

Gorillas are apart of the primate family, they are terrestrial because they rather live on the ground than in the trees. Gorillas have a relevance to humans because they are most closely related to us. Gorillas can be categorized into three different subspecies. There’s the mountain gorilla, the western lowland gorilla, and the eastern lowland gorilla. The western lowland gorilla is usually the gorilla you can visit in zoos. This is the smallest subspecies of gorilla who lives mainly in forests in the Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. The eastern lowland gorilla is bigger and lives in Eastern Congo. Supposedly there are no mountain gorillas, which are the third subspecies, held captive. It’s estimated that

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Explain how, from a biological and evolutionary perspective, humans and Gorillas are closely related in the space below.

A few similarities and differences are shown. Their diets are quite similar because they both eat seeds. A few differences is that gorillas

After doing quite a bit of research and findings, I’ve selected my first observation to be focused on a film about a pack of gorillas that are found at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay. I fully understand that the behavioral habits of those that are within a small proximity are much different than those out in the wild. An institution such as Busch Gardens would not be allowed to host a group of primates together if they had personality conflicts and showed signs of aggression. While observing this video, I took this information into consideration and applied it towards a close-knit family while monitoring the playful and or aggression towards one another and labeling the leader out of the tribe. The scientific name for gorillas is “Gorilla beringei beringi.” This observational video featured two silverback gorillas and a female gorilla that hid the entire time under the far back trees in the enclosure. Gorillas have dark brown to black pelage and black skin. The two dominant adult males, called silverbacks, have a prominent sagittal crest and striking silver coloration from their shoulders to rump. For the sake of confusion, I’ve selected the names

We could not have asked for a more perfect day to explore Zoo Atlanta. Upon our arrival the gorillas were visible and active. There was plenty of things happening to observe. I expected to see very diverse behavior among the groups of gorillas. I was excited to observe and learn as much as I could about these fascinating animals.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles zoo on a beautiful, sunny Thursday (October 19th). Although I arrived off schedule which left a minimal amount of time to observe primates, I managed my time well. After being told that the larger animals get put away earlier, I figured my first stop would be at an ape enclosure. The ape I chose to see that day was the gorilla. The time that I began my observation was at approximately 3:05. At that time only one ape was quite visible and he was sitting at the front making eye contact with me making it seem as if he is HABITUATED. Next, post gorilla watching, I had the chance to take a gander at the ring railed lemurs at 3:40. These prosimians all had their own personalities which interested me deeply. Lastly, and certainly not least on my journey through the LA zoo, I had the chance of looking at the mandrills which were once classified as baboons. Considering that two baby mandrills were present and only a month old, this was my favorite exhibit to see because of their high energy and randomness of actions.