The silverback will remain dominant until he is displaced, and will typically roam solitary after displacement from his dominant position. Sometimes a group of smaller, less-dominant males will live on the fringes of the troop. A troop typically consists of a dominant (silverback) male, with a group of adult females and their offspring. These gorillas are polygynous (males will have more than one female mate at a time). Western lowland gorillas live in groups (called troops) of about 5-15 individuals. They can climb trees up to 15m in height in search of food, and won’t strip one food source completely. These gorillas are mainly frugivorous (fruit eaters), but they also supplement their diet with leaves, pith, berries, shoots, bark, nuts, lizards, rodents, termites and ants. Young gorillas often make their nests in trees, and older gorillas make their nests on the ground. They make themselves “nests” from twigs and leaves to sleep in. Gorillas are good climbers, but can mostly be found on the ground. Western lowland gorillas prefer rainforests or dense jungle swamps. Males are usually larger than females and can weigh up to 275kg, whereas females will only weigh about half of that. The arms are very long, well suited to quadrupedal movement. These gorillas have a wide skull, with a pronounced brow ridge, big nostrils and small eyes and ears. The hair on the back and rump of males take on a silver-grey colour as they get older, which led to the “Silverback” nickname. The skin is jet-black and short, dark, coarse hair covers the whole body, except for the face, ears, hands and feet. They are the smallest of the gorilla subspecies, and also the most numerous. Western lowland gorillas are a tailless member of the great apes family. They can be found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the DRC, Equitorial Guinea, Angola and Gabon. Western lowland gorillas are endemic to Central Africa.
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