What do Gorillas Eat? – (Mountain Gorillas Diet)

What do Gorillas Eat? – (Mountain Gorilla Diet) – Herbivores are the Giant Mountain Gorillas of Virunga, Bwindi, and Mgahinga. Mountain gorillas mainly feed on green plant parts, whereas lowland gorillas eat a lot of fruit.


Diet of Mountain Gorillas

What do Gorillas Eat? – (Mountain Gorilla Diet) – Herbivores are the Giant Mountain Gorillas of Virunga, Bwindi, and Mgahinga. As the world’s largest primates, they require a lot of food to exist, and their diet consists primarily of plant life. Mountain gorillas are known to consume over 142 plant species, with leaves, shoots, and stems accounting for approximately 86 percent of their diet. Edible roots account for 7% of their diet, flowers for 3%, and fruits for 2%. Because mountain gorillas live at such high altitudes, they can ingest far less fruit than lowland gorillas, whose diet is primarily composed of fruit.

Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes

Mountain Gorillas

Mountain Gorilla Food Consumption

The adult mountain gorilla consumes approximately 18 kg of food each day. Mountain gorillas are scared of water and hence do not consume it individually; however, the plant they ingest is highly succulent and thus supplies the water they require to survive.


The family is on the move and stop to feast on fresh bamboo shoots, but they are also straying dangerously close to the edge of the reserve.

How Mountain Gorillas Gather Food

Mountain gorillas are the world’s largest and most powerful primates. They use their immense strength to break up plants so they can consume the section of the plant they want. Gorillas play a vital role in their ecological niche because they are very selective and do not consume all of the vegetation in the region where they feed. They allow for vegetation renewal and are constantly rotating from one location to another. As a result of their feeding habits, they can be replenished quickly. Mountain gorillas are selective foragers, eating different portions of plants. For example, they may only consume the root of one plant, the stem of another, the leaves and fruit of another, and so on.

what do gorillas eat

find out what do gorillas eat.

During your gorilla trekking safari, observe the gorillas eating

When you book a Gorilla Trekking Tour with Kabira Safaris, one of the most exciting parts is watching the mountain gorillas feed. The gorillas’ ability to break down enormous plants to feed on will astound you. We provide a variety of Uganda gorilla trekking, Rwanda Gorilla Safaris, and Congo gorilla tours.

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