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The Mountain Gorilla is nearly extinct, with only an estimated 600 animals left in the wild.

Gorillas are large, quiet, gentle apes that live in Africa. Although gorillas are frequently portrayed as aggressive, dangerous killers, they are really shy, peaceful vegetarians. Because of massive loss of habitat, these majestic primates are in great danger of going extinct. The gorilla is a highly intelligent animal and has been observed using tools in the wild. One gorilla named Koko has learned sign language to communicate with humans and has a vocabulary of more than 1,000 words her handlers can understand.

Gorillas are generally quiet animals. They communicate with each other using many complicated sounds and gestures. Gorillas use at least 25 recognized vocalizations, including grunts, roars, growls, whines, chuckles, hooting, etc. Some gorilla gestures include chest-beating, high-pitched barks, lunging, throwing objects, staring, lip-tucking , sticking out the tongue, sideways running, slapping, rising to a two-legged stance, etc.

Gorillas live about 50 years in captivity but only 35 years, on average, in the wild. Gorillas are fully grown and able to reproduce at 10-12 years old. Female gorillas usually have about 3 babies in their lifetime.