Do gorillas have enemies? And how can they defend them selves?
Gorillas are among the top tourist attraction in the world so; we need double effort to protect them. The only predator to prey on gorillas is the leopard. Walter Baumgärtel found the remains of several gorillas after they had been killed by leopards in the Virunga Volcanoes. Another case has been confirmed in Gabon, where a sick young gorilla was killed by a leopard.
Crocodiles are potentially dangerous to lowland gorillas. In western Africa, gorillas are commonly hunted for meat or in retaliation for crop raiding, but in eastern Africa they have been the victims of snares and traps set for antelope and other animals. Poachers have also destroyed entire family groups in their attempts to capture infant gorillas for zoos, while others are killed to sell their heads and hands as trophies.
How can Gorillas defend them selves?
When a group of gorillas feels threatened, the head of the group – Silverback males give off a particularly intensive smell and emit characteristic sounds. The other animals gather together and hug each other or gather around the male. It is one of the tasks of adult males to defend their group against attacks and to position themselves between the attacker and the group. Frequently, younger males take on this duty. They drive the group away from the source of danger and attack the enemy at the same time.
More so, the gorillas use weapons like sharp sticks, stones to scare the predators in an attempt to get them to run away. The gorillas are very intelligent as they are capable of sharpening the sticks as a fighting weapon against their enemies.
Despite the fact that gorillas have no natural predators they continue to have huge problems with human beings as they are hunted for meat in some parts of central Africa. Some time gorillas fall in traps set by hunters who plan to capture antelopes, bush pigs among others.
In some cases hunters, can destroy the entire troops of gorillas as they want to capture the young ones to be sold to zoos and even to various research labs that want to see how certain things affect gorillas due to how closely their DNA is to that of people.
Should you come into contact with a gorilla, chances are that it won’t attack you. Many people that live in Africa have stories of coming face to face with them. If you are very still they won’t feel threatened by you to attack. It is also never a good idea to make direct eye contact with a gorilla. This can be viewed by them as a sign of aggression on your part.
