Differences Between Gorillas and Chimpanzees

Differences between the Gorillas and Chimpanzees

Gorillas and chimpanzees are quite interesting species that tourists can view to understand their behaviour of the species as you visit the different national parks, where you can take part in gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking.

Gorilla trekking in Africa will give you the chance to understand more about the endangered primate species in the wild as you spend one hour with them and for chimpanzee trekking you will also spend one hour getting to know more about the playful primate that spend half of their day eating and playing and by spending time with both the primates, it will give you the chance to understand more about the distinctive features of either one of them. You can also participate in gorilla habituation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and chimpanzee habituation in Uganda in Kibale National Park, which will help you understand how the primates are trained to get accustomed to human presence.

Gorilla trekking in Uganda can be carried out in Mgahinga National Park by hiking the Virunga mountains that are Mount Sabyinyo, Mount Gahinga, and Mount Muhabura, and in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where you can access the habituated Uganda families.

For tourists interested in taking part in gorilla trekking in Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park is the place to be, where you will hike the Virunga mountains, such as well like mount sabyinyo, Mount Gahinga, Mount Muhabura, Mount Bisoke, and Mount Karisimbi to access the habituated Rwanda gorilla families, and for gorilla trekking in Congo, you can participate in gorilla trekking in Virunga National Park and gorilla trekking in Kahuzi Biega National Park if you’re interested in knowing more about the lowland gorillas.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

The gorillas are quite big primates compared to the chimpanzees, and this is characterized by their broad chests, large heads, and long arms with flat noses, as compared to the chimpanzees, which have long arms compared to their short legs and pink faces. When gorillas get older, their faces, hands, feet, and breasts become bald.

In all the eastern gorillas, i.e., the mountain gorillas and the eastern lowland gorillas, their fur is black in colour, but in the adult males, their fur on the back is light grey to white in colour, which gives off a silver colour, which is why they are called the silverbacks at around the age of 13 years.  On the other hand, the chimpanzees get white hair when they get old at an age of 1-29, and this is not a sign of ageing when it comes to the chimpanzees.

STRENGTH

Gorillas and chimpanzees are quite strong species, but compared to each other, the gorillas are quite stronger than the chimpanzees. This is because they can eat up to 18 kilograms of food, which has contributed to their body mass. The strength of the gorillas is estimated to be 10 times their body weight, making them 4 – 10 times stronger than an average human making whereas chimpanzees are four times stronger than humans, making them not as strong as the gorillas.

An average weight of a fully grown gorilla male is 136-227 and female is 68-113 kilograms whereas chimpanzees, the average female can weigh up to 27-50 kilograms and an adult male 40- 70 kilograms which has also constituted to the fact that gorillas are stronger than the chimpanzees and because the chimpanzees have muscles that consist of fast twitch fibres which are quite strong but use a lot of energy making more fatigued than the gorillas and hence making the weaker compared to the gorillas.

 FRIENDLINESS

Are gorillas friendlier than chimpanzees? Is one of the most asked questions when it comes to people differentiating the gorillas from the chimpanzees. This is because both primates are quite intimidating when you look at them.  Gorillas are a quite shy species that enjoy spending most of their time in their designated gorilla families harmoniously with one another, and they have also been recorded living in peace with other primates in the same area, for instance, the golden monkeys and to a lesser extent the chimpanzees, only if the gorillas do not encroach on their territories because this can cause fight outbreaks between the two species.

In situations of being friendly to humans, this can only be measured after the habituation process, because both the chimpanzees and the gorillas that have not undergone the habituation process, which involves training the gorillas to get accustomed to human presence, are quite dangerous primates to encounter by humans, but with habituation, they are not.

SOCIAL HIERARCHY

The gorillas and chimpanzees are quite different when it comes to their social hierarchy and setting, that is to say, the head of the gorilla family is the adult silverback, who is the general overseer of the group and has all the mating rights with the adult females of the family, followed by the males, the adult females, and the offspring.

The chimpanzees, on the other hand, the chimpanzees live in a pretty much extended family which comprises of very many families, and in the group, the females on heat can mate with almost every adult male of the group, which is not the case for the gorillas. It is also important to note that the alpha male has much more power than the females; however, among the females, the alpha female has much more power compared to other females in the group.

HEIGHT

At the age of 14 years, a mature male gorilla, while standing on his two feet, can stand at a height of 6.6 feet, making them taller than the height of the average human, which is about 5.6 feet, whereas adult males of the group are believed to stand at a height of 4 feet, making them quite short compared to the gorillas.