Are Mountain Gorillas Dangerous: Gorillas are apes that live on the ground and are classified into four subspecies: mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, cross-river gorillas, and western lowland gorillas. These gorillas are all familiar in some ways, and the only difference between them is where they live. These gorillas share up to 99 percent of their DNA with humans, making them very close cousins but in a wild form. The gorillas are closely related to chimps and bonobos, two other ape species.
Gorillas are enormous and powerful animals that are believed to be the largest primates on the planet, with adults weighing up to 270 kilograms and standing up to 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) tall. They have incredibly wide chests and arms that may reach up to 2.6 meters in length depending on their age and gender. They are incredibly sociable animals who live in groups known as gorilla families, just like people, thus the following facts may help to answer the issue of whether these gorillas are hazardous to humans.
The gorillas are large creatures, yet they are usually peaceful and will choose peace over attacking a person. Guests who have booked a mountain gorilla hike will almost certainly ask this question during the activity briefing. Visits to these gorillas in the wild are popular, particularly for mountain gorillas, which are only habituated and can only be seen in the wild.
Because mountain gorillas are accustomed to human encounters, they will be more tolerant of the visit. After a lot of things have driven a mountain gorilla to that point, it will become unsafe to be near. When the gorilla becomes dissatisfied with the existing situation, it will begin to send out warning signs to notify you of the intruder. When confronted with a disturbance, the gorilla may choose to bark high-pitched sounds or even rise erect on two feet, like people do. They may also begin to aggressively pull grass on the ground in order to hurl it at the damage or just smack it.
The gorilla may also begin to pound its chest with its hands folded in an attempt to demonstrate his might, demand respect, or scare away the intruder. They may smack the ground instead of pounding their chest. All of these cues will be enough for the invader to decide whether or not to continue disturbing the gorilla.
Are Mountain Gorillas Dangerous to Humans?
The mountain gorilla will normally strike after all of your attempts have fallen on deaf ears. You will be accompanied by skilled and knowledgeable ranger guides on your mountain gorilla trekking experience in any of the gorilla homes, who will ensure that you are prepared for the accepted code of conduct while in the forest and also equip you with emergency responses in the event of such occurrences.
People living in gorilla habitats used to shoot or hunt them down in fear of their lives, but this mentality changed once primatologist Dian Fossey demonstrated to them how courteous these animals can be.
Dian Fossey pushed for the conservation of mountain gorillas and lived extremely close to the nearest family to her camp. She frequently visited this gorilla family and demonstrated to visitors that gorillas are nearly harmless when handled with caution. The gorillas you will see on your gorilla trekking adventure are wild yet habituated creatures.
The gorillas fight among themselves more than they attack people, and the occurrences of gorillas attacking humans are almost non-existent after humans respond to the warning given off before to the attack.
What can make a Mountain Gorilla attack a Human?
If you have booked a mountain gorilla trek or a lowland gorilla trek on your Rwanda safari, Uganda safari, or Congo safari, you must attend a necessary morning pre-trekking briefing, when some of these ideas will be shared with you. There will be no need for the mountain gorillas to assault you if you follow each of these steps.
Loud Sounds; Guests are encouraged to keep quiet since these creatures are prone to become irritated by outside noise in the forest. They are accustomed to wild noises, therefore human noises such as chatting, laughing, or even gadgets that sound like ringtones will send a warning signal to the gorillas, prompting them to attack in an attempt to protect themselves.
Flash photography; It will be a once-in-a-lifetime event, so you will undoubtedly want to snap photographs, but make sure you don’t have any flashes on and don’t flash bright lights at the gorillas as this can excite them and cause them to attack.
These are habituated animals, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they are wild and still live in the wild, so anything foreign can agitate them, such as getting too close to them, breaking the 7-meter distance rule, touching or attempting to feed them, or even overstaying in their natural habitat.
These gorillas, like people, may be having a terrible day, and this is not the greatest time to see them. These are generally following battles in their group, and a visit may not be as welcoming as other times. If you follow your ranger guide’s instructions, you may be assured of a tranquil visit to the gorillas and a safe escape from the jungle.
We hope to hear from you soon to schedule your Uganda gorilla safari, Congo tour, or Rwanda wildlife tour to see the mountain or lowland gorillas.
