Silverback Gorilla

gorillas silver

Imposing, grand, primitive, huge…yet with human eyes and expressions, enormous black fingers delicately and expertly stripping away thorns from vegetation, possibly ignoring you altogether or looking you straight in the eye.  Respect and awe is given, from human to ape. 

These are the words my aunt wrote of her trip to Rwanda earlier this month, in which she was able to witness some of the last remaining mountain gorillas on the planet.

“A silverback gorilla is the mature, experienced male leader of a group of mountain gorillas in the wild. Named for the silver saddles across his back, the silverback is responsible for the safety of his group. A group of gorillas, also called a troop, can contain from 5 to 30 gorillas. The silverback decides where the troop travels, where it forages for food, where it will rest and where it will sleep at night.” (http://animals.mom.me)

 I thought these images she and her husband captured were too awesome not to share with my readers!

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15 thoughts on “Silverback Gorilla”

  8. Magnificent creatures. There’s a You Tube video out there of a guy that visited one of the silver back preserves and ended up sitting down and being surrounded by them, some of whom picked his hair for nits!

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    1. His heart must have been pounding! I asked my aunt if she was scared just being a few feet from them, and she said it was “too wonderful to be scary.” I hope they didn’t find any nits…

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