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Western Lowland Gorilla

The Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is a subspecies of the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) that lives in montane, primary, and secondary forests and lowland swamps in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla usually found in zoos. Adult male Gorillas are prone to cardiomyopathy, a degenerative heart disease. Babec, a Western Lowland Gorilla on exhibit at the Birmingham Zoo in Birmingham, Alabama (USA) was the first gorilla to receive an artificial pacemaker. Binti Jua, whom resides at Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, saved a three year old boy who fell into her enclosure in 2003.

They live in family groupings of one dominant male, five to seven adult females, children and adolescents, and possibly a few non-dominant males. Gorillas reproduce slowly because females do not begin reproducing until the age of nine or ten and usually only produce one baby approximately every five years.

A male Western Lowland Gorilla can stand 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weigh almost 450 pounds (200 kg)

 

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Uploaded on October 14, 2009
Taken on September 25, 2009