Why do silverback gorillas fight? A silverback gorilla is an aggressive male gorilla that develops into a silverback at the age of 14 years old.
It is featured by a flux of silver hair on its back and a noticeable sense of maturity that earns it respect and fame as it performs activities like charging, chest beating, whooping, tree slapping, and in rare circumstances, physical duels.
A typical and original silverback carries a weight of over 430 pounds, which is 195kg, and stands at a firm posture of about 5 feet, which is 1.5m tall.
A silverback gorilla is famed for its great strength, little wonder it can lift over 1763 pounds, which is an average of about 800kg of dead weight, an approximation of a weight which is almost twice as much as an expert weight lifter can manage.
Its great energy and immense strength are used to fell trees, making it easier to get the desired fruits. Silverbacks make most of the group decisions, which are movements and making nests for the night, as well as searching for food throughout the day.
Silverbacks are very aggressive; when a silverback faces any threat, it will beat its chest loudly and stamp its feet on the ground.
Silverbacks protect their families and can fight for them even to the point of death.
Silverbacks normally use their teeth, legs, and hands during fights.
Reasons why silverbacks fight
- Silverbacks fight to protect their families and the young ones in case of any threat.
- Silverbacks fight when conquering new members from other gorilla groups to start their new groups or add to their groups.
- Silverbacks fight when hindering other males from mating with their females. In most cases, it’s only the leader silverback that is to mate with the females in the group; attempting to mate one of his females may result in a fight.
- Silverbacks fight in case one of the members of the same group refuses to obey the dominant silverback directives. This usually comes up when a young silverback thinks he can lead the group better; this leads to a fight, and the winner takes it all.
Gorillas are not dangerous wild apes but will only attack when their peace is disturbed through being threatened or intimidated after several warnings from them.
They usually attack people or poachers who do not follow rules given to them on how to stay in the presence of gorillas.
In conclusion, silverback gorillas are very peaceful, and so many tourists should opt to go gorilla trekking because there are many things to learn about their nature, habits, and facts.
