Feeding behaviours of mountain gorillas

Gorillas are mostly found in Bwindi and Rwanda National parks, that’s to say in Virunga and Bwindi Impenetrable National park. Many tourists who come for Gorilla trekking safaris are mostly interested in finding out the feeding characteristics of the mountain gorillas. Gorillas like all primates, prepare their food before eating it. The leaves are often stripped off the stems of plants, so that the tender can be enjoyed.

A gorilla safari in Uganda and Rwanda will expose you to the mountain gorillas which use their fingers and teeth to delicately remove the parts of the plants they don’t like to eat and only indulge in those parts that provide them with the most nutrients or water.

Mountain gorillas eat up to 70 kinds of plants and as many as 200 different parts of various vegetation. This includes wild plants, leaves, herbs, flowers, thistles, nettles, fungs and bamboo. Sometimes gorillas will eat ants, termites to supplement their diet.

Gorilla tracking in both bwindi and Virunga will expose you to these large primates which eat the leaves of thistles, but also the thick base and the roots, like leaves and stems, they also add a variety   of minerals and nutrients to a gorilla diet. They usually spend 30% of their time eating, 40% sleeping and 30% travelling.

Gorillas will sometimes chew on and eat the decaying wood, as wee as fungi that grow on the decaying trees. The soft wood is a source of nutrients and water, particularly valuable in the dry season, when water becomes scarce. The order in which gorillas are allowed to enjoy this wood is directly related to the order in the hierarchy in the group, with dominant animals having first access.