Discover the Jungle Kings: Top 10 Fun Facts About Western Lowland Gorillas You Never Knew

1. Plant-based Diet Champions

Move over, vegans: the western lowland gorilla has truly one-upped you with their plant-based lifestyle! Their diet is an all-you-can-eat buffet of nature's finest, boasting over 200 species of plants and 100 varieties of fruit in their natural habitat of the Central African Republic. All that leafy green goodness keeps these gorillas low in fat and dietary cholesterol, while remaining high in protein and fiber – a lifestyle choice that may have also influenced our own evolutionary eating habits.
Source => academic.oup.com

2. Gorilla-style Communication

Ready to rock n' roll with gorilla-style swagger? They've got 25 ways to say "Hello" or "Watch out!": Western lowland gorillas communicate with their kin using body postures, facial expressions, and a range of about 25 distinct vocalizations. Dominant silverbacks serenade the most, asserting their status with chest beating and ground thumping while facial expressions like the play face convey a playful mood – but don't be fooled, bared-teeth visuals serve as a sign of submission or appeasement. Talk about a whole new level of primate banter!
Source => wildgorillasafaris.com

Did you know chimpanzees in Guinea sip on naturally fermented palm wine using homemade leaf sponges, and can get tipsy just like humans? Discover how these wild apes enjoy their own boozy brunch!

=> Fun Facts about Chimpanzees

3. Regurgitation Reingestion Ritual

Feeling a bit peckish after lunch, are we? Well, bring out the silverware because the western lowland gorilla has you covered with their muito elegante "second course": These fascinating creatures exhibit a unique behavior known as regurgitation and reingestion, wherein they bring up and re-consume some of their food for reasons not entirely clear to biologists – it could be a matter of taste preferences, mineral recapture, or the sugar and starch content in their meals. Pro tip: Increasing forage foods and smaller feedings can sometimes curb this fancy feast for some individuals.
Source => nationalzoo.si.edu

4. Chatty Gorilla Multitaskers

When they aren't busy teaching sign language to idealistic researchers, western lowland gorillas are actually quite the chatterboxes - at least when they're not taken as seriously: they indeed possess a myriad of communication methods, amongst which 25 vocalizations, visual signals, and even their very own smelly signatures! No joke: these primates utilize such a mix of communication techniques both for inter-troop chatter and for maintaining contact with their own social groups, with researchers even identifying their noseprints as a unique identifier in studies.
Source => zooatlanta.org

5. Tree-hugging Buffet Lovers

Don't be fooled by their beefy exteriors: these armchair herbivores are the original tree-huggers, dining on a scrumptious buffet of foliage and fruit! Seriously, folks: Western lowland gorillas feast on the leaves, stems, and fruits of nearly 100 tree species, with adults guzzling down up to 45 pounds of green goodness per day—meanwhile, the ladies opt for two-thirds of that amount, maintaining their slim and svelte figures.
Source => nationalzoo.si.edu

6. Heavyweight Primate Champs

Step aside, King Kong: Western lowland gorillas are the true heavyweight champs of the primate world, and they're not monkeying around when it comes to size! Funny thing though, they're not as gargantuan as some tall tales claim: Males typically tip the scales at a hefty 374 pounds, while females clock in at a more svelte 158 pounds.
Source => seaworld.org

7. Gorilla Gymnastics

These primate gymnasts could give Simone Biles a run for her money: Western lowland gorillas are not just expert knuckle-walkers, but also effortlessly switch between bipedalism, hand-walking, and tree-climbing thanks to their specially adapted wrist and forearm bones.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Posh Salad Bar Menu

Much like a posh salad bar, the western lowland gorilla's diet consists of all things green, leafy and healthy – with a cheeky side of insects for dessert: Western lowland gorillas munch on a variety of plant parts like seeds, stems, leaves, shoots, flowers, and fruit, while also snacking on insects such as termites and ants, and can often be found swinging from the trees like the world's hairiest Tarzans.
Source => zooatlanta.org

9. Termite Banquet Time

Who needs fine dining when a termite banquet beckons? Gorillas certainly don't: Western lowland gorillas feast on termites and ants, breaking open nests to devour the larvae, in addition to their usual diet of stems, bamboo shoots, and fruits – a vital behavior that maintains the balance in their ecosystem.
Source => worldwildlife.org

10. Gorilla Hulk Showdown

If The Hulk and a heavyweight MMA champion had a baby gorilla, they'd still need to hit the gym to catch up with their western lowland cousin: The average western lowland gorilla possesses a Herculean strength of about six to 15 times that of an adult human, rendering even brawny fighters like Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva helpless in the hypothetical battle of might.
Source => slate.com