Gorillas are located in small areas in central and west central Africa. They are terrestrial creatures that can be found in lowlands and montane tropical forests (“America”). The exhibit recreated the habitat by including a few big rocks on the side of a hill covered with grass and patches of dirt.

It definitely was not the recreation of a tropical forest, but I could see the exhibit as lowland in Africa. Adjoining the open area of grass was a big concrete room with a kind of jungle gym. Thick pieces of straw littered with peanuts covered the floor of the room. This was obviously a recreation of trees for the younger gorillas to play in. Adult gorillas typically remain on the ground and only venture into trees to build nests (“America”).

Gorillas usually live in groups called “troops.�

After they had enough of playing outside, all of the gorillas went into the adjoining room with the jungle gym. Gorillas tend to feed heavily for about two hours in the morning and then they gradually slow down through out the day. Gorillas are primarily vegetarians, with a diet that includes parts of 100 different plant species. They use their hands and mouths to pick and eat the food (“Gorilla”). They immediately started digging through the straw to gather peanuts. A friend who was with me was amazed how quickly the gorilla could put the peanut shell into its mouth and spit out the shell in the matter of a second. This is what all of the gorillas did while they were gathering peanuts. Gorillas do not share their food with others (“Gorilla”), and this was demonstrated to me whenever the dominant male was gathering peanuts in one spot for a while. He moved from the spot for a second to get a few peanuts elsewhere. Whenever he did that, one of the younger gorillas got into the alpha male’s spot. The alpha male immediately jumped back to his spot and ran the other gorilla off. It was funny because it seemed like he was communicating, “That’s my spot! Move!”

Gorillas have a distinct way of moving called “knuckle-walking.” Gorillas most often walk in a stooped position and use their knuckles to support part of their weight. This is due to the lack of curvature in their spine (“Gorilla”). At the exhibit, many of the younger gorillas were chasing each other around on their knuckles. Though it seems like an awkward way to get around, the gorillas could move around easily and surprisingly fast. One of the younger and more active gorillas was actually runni

Some topics in this essay:
Africa Adjoining, Move” Instances, City Zoo, Project Gorillas, jungle gym, dominant male, gorillas exhibit, recreated habitat, playing outside, gorillas chasing, exhibit gorillas, silverback male, gorillas actually, day gorillas,