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Mountain Gorilla Infant

Gorilla beringei beringei

Photo by Dan Doucette
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

males reach 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in height, with an arm span of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) and weigh 220 kg (490 lb). The tallest silverback recorded was a 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) individual shot in Alimbongo, northern Kivu in May 1938, though there's an unconfirmed record of another individual, shot in 1932, that was 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) tall (Carwardine 1995). The heaviest was a 1.83 m (6 ft) silverback shot in Ambam, Cameroon which weighed about 266 kg (590 lb).

Habitat:

montane rainforest

Notes:

I did gorilla tracking in Bwindi National park. We only had to hike for about an hour to find the Habiyanja Family, the largest habituated group in the park, consisting of about 20 animals. Permits are only valid for an hour once you find the group. It was amazing to be around the mountain gorillas. I tried to balance taking photos and just relaxing and appreciating the fact I was in the presence of one of the most endangered large mammals in the world.

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Comments (6)

Thanks, that's nice to hear. It's especially true when you only have an hour, you really have to live in the moment and take it all in. You can't be too preoccupied with getting the best photos or the right poses, because before you know it, your time is up.
I really like when you say you appreciated the fact you were in the presence of one of the most endangered species... Its something I would appreciate too.
Thanks Carolina. I wanted to expand on the detail that it took us only an hour to find the group, which was quite short. I heard of others hiking for 4 - 6 hours to find the group they were searching for!
My god....what a beautiful and authentic shot! Congrats, Dan.

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