The Eastern Lowland Gorillas in Congo

The Eastern Lowland gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National park

Kahuzi Biega National park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the home to the largest gorilla species known as eastern lowland gorillas, scientifically referred to as the Grauer’s gorillas. The eastern lowland gorilla is one of the two sub-species of Gorillas in most cases sighted in the jungles of the amazing African continent and the other species is the mountain gorilla. The eastern lowland gorilla is more common than their counter parts, the mountain gorillas. It is different from other species by the stocky body, large hands and short muzzle just like other herbivores.

The eastern lowland gorilla being a socialist live in groups that are led and protected by the dominant male called Alpha who mates with the females in his group to produce the babies and the babies stay with the mother until 3 years old before becoming independent. Due to its size, the eastern lowland gorilla has very few predators but due to illegal poaching the number has reduced drastically with estimated number of 5000 eastern lowland gorillas and fewer 880 mountain gorillas now remaining in the wild.

This species of gorilla is the most loved primate visited by the crazy number of adventure enthusiasts who visit the African continent just to experience the eastern lowland gorillas only found in Democratic Republic of Congo in the famous Kahuzi Biega national park in the eastern parts of the country and in the jungles of Rwanda and Uganda. The eastern lowland gorilla is an amazing creature that belongs to the ape family, with so much resemblance with mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-utans, and even human beings. This eastern lowland gorilla possesses some unique characters that make the jungle a suitable habitat for it to live.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, trekking lowland gorillas in Kahuzi Biega National park is so wonderful and unique because the visitor is given a full one hour to meet, view, photograph and chill with these apes deep in the lush jungles. Explore the wonderful and unique features of this magnificent creature and some of its behaviors. Some of the amazing fun facts about the Eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi Biega are; they are the largest in terms of size compared to all gorilla subspecies, they are absolutely herbivorous eating wide range of plants, fruits, seeds, leaves, stems and barks, ants, termites and insects, males weigh 250 kg and averagely 2 meter tall when standing, during an epic 1 hour encounter, visitors will see how gorillas make nests every night and the young ones share the mothers’ nest until 3 years old before putting up in their own nests.

Trekking eastern lowland gorillas in the Democratic republic of Congo came to a halt when the unrest started but with help of the WWF and other civil society organizations, all activities of gorilla trekking have resumed and the animals and visitors are protected by the game rangers. You don’t have to miss a chance to visit the Eastern Lowland gorilla in Kahuzi Biega national park right in their local habitat and with the most reliable safari company.