Mountain gorillas are the largest of all primates. They have long arms, massive chests, and very large hands and feet. They are the hairiest gorillas out of all gorillas, they have thick black hair which keeps them warm when they nest in the high elevations of the jungle canopies. Gorillas are very strong, but docile. They will become hostile when a predator or a human enters their territory.
There are only 786 mountain gorillas left in the world. Almost all of them live in four separate national parks in Africa. Mountain gorillas live in groups. Any group can have from two, to forty gorillas in at at a time. These groups are led by the alfa-male, also known as the silverback. They are called silverbacks because when they become adults in the gorilla community, they grow gray hairs on their backs. These males protect the groups from danger and make all of the group's decisions.
The reasons mountain gorillas are becoming extinct are the destruction of their homes and poaching. Forest clearing destroys all of their food, and homes that the make in the trees. Poaching is a gigantic threat to the mountain gorilla. People will slaughter families to capture a baby gorilla to sell to zoos. People kill them to skin their hair to create fur coats,, boots, hand bags, and more. Some will remove the hands, heads, and feet to keep as trophies. Another reason why these creatures are becoming extinct is because they have an extremely low rate of reproduction. They are not replacing the elder gorillas, when they die, with new baby gorillas.
http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/mountaingorilla
http://www.outtoafrica.nl/animals/enggorilla.html?zenden=2&subsoort_id=1&bestemming_id=1
