Gorilla Sitting in the Jungle Coloring Page: PDF Sheet

Gorillas, the Gentle Giants of the Jungle

The Largest of the Great Apes

Gorillas are the largest primates on Earth. A grown male can stand over five feet tall and weigh more than four hundred pounds, with arms so long and strong they can span far wider than the ape is tall. Yet despite that power, gorillas are famously calm and shy, spending much of the day sitting quietly and feeding, much like the peaceful gorilla in this scene.

Gorillas share close to ninety-eight percent of their DNA with humans, making them among our nearest animal relatives along with chimpanzees and bonobos. They have hands and feet a lot like ours, with five fingers and an opposable thumb, and each gorilla has a unique nose print, a set of wrinkles and shapes on the nose that scientists use to tell individuals apart.

The Silverback Leader

Gorillas live in family groups called troops, usually led by one older male known as a silverback. He earns the name from the silvery grey hair that grows across his back as he matures. The silverback decides where the troop travels, settles arguments, and protects the group from danger. When he wants to warn off a rival he may stand up and beat his chest with cupped hands, a booming display meant to avoid a real fight.

Within the troop, mother gorillas are gentle and attentive, carrying babies on their backs and nursing them for years. Young gorillas love to play, wrestling and tumbling much like human children, and they learn by copying the adults around them. This close family life is one reason gorillas seem so relatable to people.

A Mostly Plant-Based Diet

For such big, muscular animals, gorillas eat surprisingly gentle food. They are mainly herbivores, filling their days with leaves, stems, shoots, bamboo, and fruit, and a large male may eat forty pounds of plants in a single day. They get most of the water they need straight from all that juicy greenery, so they rarely need to drink from a stream.

Each evening a gorilla builds a fresh nest of bent branches and leaves to sleep in, either on the ground or in low trees, and never uses the same nest twice. Building a new bed every night keeps the troop clean and safe as it moves through the forest in search of the next good feeding spot.

Gorillas of the African Forests

Wild gorillas live only in the forests of central Africa, split into two species: the western gorilla and the eastern gorilla, which includes the famous mountain gorillas of the misty highlands. Mountain gorillas grow thick, shaggy coats to stay warm in the cool, foggy mountains where they live. All gorillas depend on large, healthy forests full of the leaves and vines shown around this one.

Gorillas are endangered, with habitat loss and other threats reducing their numbers. Researchers such as Dian Fossey spent years living near mountain gorillas and helped the world see how intelligent and gentle they are, and one famous gorilla named Koko even learned to use hundreds of hand signs. Protecting the jungle these apes call home gives future generations the chance to know them too.