Why Do Silverback Gorillas Fight?
Why do silverback gorillas fight? Do gorillas fight? There are multiple reasons why silverback gorillas do fight each other. A mature adult male gorilla is called “Silverback” and in every family, there is a silverback gorilla.
Silverbacks are the leaders of gorilla groups and they can be detected from the rest of the members by looking at the silver hair on their backs. A silverback gorilla is a dominant male in a gorilla family and it grows silver-like hair at 11-12 years of age. A fully grown up silverback weighs 350 pounds and it can stand 6feet tall.
Before engaging in a fight, mountain gorillas begin by sending warnings to the opponent and they do so by making loud hoots, beating the chest, groaning, tearing or throwing vegetation. Where the opponent persists, the end result will be attacking.
Mountain gorillas or gorillas, in general, have strong teeth and are muscular. Their strength is more than that of humans, about 10 times, and a fully grown-up silverback is estimated to be stronger than over 20 adult humans put together.
Reasons why silverback gorillas fight
- Silverback gorillas usually fight in order to protect their groups and young ones. It is silverback’s responsibility to ensure that every member of his group is safe from intruders. In a single gorilla group, there are 15-30 mountain gorillas comprising of females, infants and other males.
- Family breakup- silverback gorillas engage in a fight when another male wants to break away from original family to create his own. This usually happens where the departing silverback snatches some of the members from original group.
It should be noted that mountain gorillas particularly silverbacks are decision-makers of their own. Breaking away from the original group family is a normal practice in gorilla habitat.
- Lone/solo silverbacks- dominant male gorillas at times engage in a fight with solo silverbacks that tries to grab some of the gorilla members in order to begin their own groups.
- Meeting another silverback- when two silverbacks meet, they feel threatened and usually, a fight erupts.
- Female gorillas mating with another- in gorilla family, it is a dominant silverback alone that can mate females. Upon realizing that females are engaged in mating with another male, the end result will be a fight between the two.
- Dominance- usually fights among silverbacks occur when one male silverback wants to take over control of the gorilla family.
Mountain gorillas are unique apes inhabited only in the East and Central African jungles and specifically, within Uganda, Rwanda and D.R. Congo. They are among a few closest relatives to humans in the jungles sharing up to 98% of their DNA.
The massive and endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda are inhabited only in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the Southwest. In Rwanda where Dian Fossey conducted her 18 years’ research on the same species, they live in Volcanoes National Park Ruhengeri. In Congo, the endangered mountain gorillas inhabit the Virunga National Park, located in the Eastern part of the country.
Gorilla permit prices
Depending on where you would like to track mountain gorillas, you require a valid gorilla permit and costs differ from one destination to another. In Uganda, all foreign non-residents on Uganda safaris or gorilla tour pay US$700, foreign residents US$600 and shs. 250,000 for all citizens in East Africa.
Gorilla habituation is the other alternative way to see gorillas in Uganda and habituation permits cost USD1500 for all foreign non-residents. Foreign residents and citizens in East Africa pay US$1000 and 750,000 shs respectively. For visitors on Rwanda gorilla safaris, gorilla permits are available for reservation at US$1500 per pax and in Congo US$450.
For all great gorilla safari packages, wildlife tours, adventures, cultural encounters, primate safaris, city tours, reach out to Maranatha Tours and Travel with your reliable ground tour operator.