How Strong Are Gorillas?

How Strong Are Gorillas? Mountain gorillas are very strong animals though how strong these giants are cannot be measured accurately and they also don’t display their strength often so the strength cannot be accurately measured but estimated. Mountain gorillas have incredibly strong muscles, they can rip car doors and snap tree limbs without much effort, mountain gorillas can break human ribs and a leopard’s spine.

Mountain gorillas can showcase the strength of their hands by holding tightly on tree branches and swinging from tree to tree despite their heavyweight. According to an experiment of 1924, it is proved that a gorilla can throw about 450 kgs of force compared to a well-trained man can throw an average of about 100 kgs of force.

Gorillas have very strong hands because they usually use hands and legs for walking with the hands supporting much of the weight which is more like a human training in a gym every day. Gorillas are so strong in that they can easily break bamboos which a well-trained man cannot easily do, they also tear down banana trees in order to get fruits.

Gorillas have very strong enormous canine teeth; a gorilla bite can reach 1,300 pounds per square inch stronger than that of a white great shark. They usually use these teeth during fights. It is said that a grip of the silverback strength can easily crash a crocodile. Adult gorillas are 4-9 times stronger than any average man, according to guineas world book of records a mountain gorilla can lift up to 815 kgs of dead weight.

Though mountain gorillas are huge and strong animals, they also have their own fears for example infant gorillas that are fond of chasing anything that moves will go out of their way to avoid chameleons and caterpillars. Gorillas are fearful of caterpillars and chameleons for unknown reasons. The great apes are also afraid of water and will not cross any stream except with a log or without a possibility of getting wet.

Mountain gorillas don’t begin fights. In fact, they do everything in their power to avoid fights. But if provoked, they possess the gargantuan size and strength to strength to ruthlessly end any conflict.

Now that you know strong these gorillas are, and how much they can do, making sure you do not get on its wrong side is very important. If you don’t get attacked by a gorilla, bowing your head in a submissive way with your eyes downcast and staying calm is very much recommended. Following rules and regulations as taught at the briefing Centre are important also:

• Maintaining a 7-meter distance away from the mountain gorillas should always be kept in mind by travelers. They might see you as a threat when you get close to them and this become aggressive that they could charge at you
• Don’t surround the gorilla group when you have encountered them. Staying on your group and them being on the other side of the forest is how you should view them.
• Don’t use flash cameras when photographing mountain gorillas.
• Don’t look straight in the eyes of the mountain gorillas, this is threatening to them.
• Do not make any form of sign language as they might interpret them differently and then have them charge at you.
• Don’t touch the gorillas most especially the young ones who are playful and can come and play on you.
• Don’t make noise while around the gorillas in the jungle

Mountain gorillas are undeniably strong apes, yes, but they are also the most adorable creatures you would enjoy watching in the wild. Mountain gorillas can be visited in Mgahinga national park and Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda, volcanoes national park of Rwanda, and Virunga national park in DR Congo and all these parks can be visited at any time of the year. The best time to trek mountain gorillas is the dry season when there is little or no rainfall and these happen in December to February and June to September.