![]() The hierarchy among females may be based on age, as well as an individual’s length of time in the group, where a newcomer would generally be the lowest in the hierarchy. Other silverbacks may aide in protecting the group and resolving conflicts. For males, if there are multiple adult silverbacks, one will be dominant above the rest and make decisions such as where to sleep and eat. Females will also have a hierarchy of their own. Fact 4:Įach group has its own dominance hierarchy.Īs previously mentioned in fact 1, there is a hierarchy among males. For gorillas, both males and females are observed leaving their natal groups as well as saying in their natal groups for their entire lives! Females may even transfer groups multiple times throughout their lives, leading to her producing offspring with several males. In other primate species, you can see females staying in their natal group with male dispersal, or males staying in their natal group with female dispersal. Gorillas are pretty unique in that both male and female gorillas may either stay in or leave their natal group. Just like a silverback would determine where to travel and when to stop in a family group, the dominant male in a bachelor group may do the same. Even in the bachelor groups you will see a hierarchy form. These groups will help the male gorillas learn skills that are needed to become a successful leader before having a family group of their own. Titus is a famous Karisoke gorilla who spent some of his formative years in a bachelor group. ![]() If the male is unsuccessful in acquiring females, they may roam around alone until they are successful.įinally, they male form or join a bachelor group, which is an all-male group. Second, they can strike out as solitary males to try to create a family of their own by stealing females from other males. About 50% of males stay in their natal group, although not all eventually end up becoming dominant. And excellent example of this is the famous Cantsbee. Once a male gorilla reaches maturity, it has three ‘options’.įirst, they can stay in their natal group and queue for dominance. However, mountain gorilla groups have been seen supporting up to eight silverbacks at one time! Each of these silverbacks will have a slightly different role with a clear hierarchy.įollow this link to learn more about the roles of each silverback male in the group! Fact 2: Most subspecies of gorillas have groups that consist of one dominant adult male, multiple adult females and their young. ![]() In conclusion, not all gorillas become silver backs but only males become at around the age of 12 years old.Aside from a few exceptions, groups consist of more adult females than adult males. The new silverback sometimes kills all the other male infants of the former silverback to avoid being threatened when they grow up.Ī silverback back from within the group can arise and fight the dominating silverback which is usually a brutal fight leading to the old silverback to live the group and be abandoned or the rising silverback to live the group. When a silverback gorilla dies abruptly, then the next mature male will take over the group leadership and if there is no other silverback in the group then it will be dispersed unless another lone silverback comes to take over the leadership. The upcoming males normally live the group and become lone males for some time until they form their own family or others fight the dominating silverback in order to take over the group. The dominating male in the family is the only one that can mate with all the group females and the females choose him for his size and strength. ![]() Silverbacks are always responsible for taking care of the group including protection from predators the silverback makes decisions on where to forage for food, where to sleep and also where the family travels every day. Silverbacks are also known to be the hairiest of all other gorillas, they are also very large forming 5.5 to 6 feet tall when they stand up right, a mature silverback can weigh up to 350 pounds, a large bony crest on the tops of their skulls and backs giving their heads a conical shape. Silverback back gorillas are called so because they develop a saddle shaped area of silver hair on their backs when they reach sexual maturity at about the age of 12 years old, they grey hair is for display and communication to other gorillas that they are mature males. You will see them when on gorilla trekking Uganda safaris or in Rwanda or DR Congo. The male gorillas that are mature and yet to develop silver hair are called black backs until they develop that patch of hair that is when the can be called silverbacks. Not all gorillas become silverbacks only male gorillas become silverbacks as they mature the female gorillas young males don’t develop silver hair on their backs hence they can’t be called silverbacks. ![]()
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