I love animals - Information and questions for small kids - Part 7 The Gorilla

Sadly there are not many gorillas left in the world, because of humans hunting them for commercial reasons.  That means they are hunted for the 'fun' of it.  For their skin and to keep as a trophy.

• What do you think about hunting animals that are endangered or even just not having any respect for animals and nature?

A gorilla is a close relative to a human - it share most of a humans DNA (these are the 'building blocks' that makes us human.)

Lets learn more about these incredible animals.

 There are only about 700 mountain gorillas and they live high in the mountains in two protected parks in Africa. Lowland gorillas live in central Africa. 

The mom will carry the baby gorilla on her back, but only once it is a bit older.  The first few months, the baby will cling to the mom's chest.

Gorillas will live together as a family and the leader of the family is a male gorilla.  These are called a 'silverback', since they have silver hair on their backs and sides.  The male will protect the family and if it is threatened, it will stand on its hind legs and hit on his chest to scare away the intruder.

A family will have a dominant male (who is the leader) and a few other male gorillas, but they will leave the group at the age of 11 and start their own family.  The young female gorillas will leave earlier at the age of 8 already.

Many people say gorillas are omnivores, which means they eat plants and meat, which is true if you consider they eat some insects, but they are mostly herbivores and eat different plants throughout the day.  A grown gorilla can eat up to 30 kg of leaves and bamboo during the day.

Gorillas can get very old and the average age is about 40-50 years, but some will even get older.  

These are very intelligent animals and they can use certain objects as tools in the wild.  Gorillas who are kept in captivity in zoos can even be taught sign language.

• Watch the story of Coco the gorilla that were taught to communicate with humans through sign language.

It is so sad that these magnificent animals are endangered and almost extinct because some people just do not care about animals.

Gorillas are endangered animals. Their habitat is destroyed when people use the land for farming and the trees for fuel. Gorillas are also killed by poachers and sometimes get caught in poacher’s snares meant for other animals.

• For fun you can watch the bedtime story and answer the questions

1. What did Hannah love?
2. What did she do because she loved him?
3. What did Hannah's dad do?
4. What did she ask her father for her birthday.
5. Why was she not happy with her present?
6. What happened during the night?
7. Where did the gorilla take Hannah?
8. What did the gorilla wear?
9. What did they see at the zoo?
10. Do you think this was real or just a dream?

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