Gorilla Sex, Courtship, Reproduction, and Gorilla Mating
Understanding Gorilla sex & Mating is an impressive mystery that unlocking will definitely get you to like and want to see these gentle giants even more.
Because of their giant size and solitary ruling of the silverback, many people believe gorillas must have some sort of funny social and sex lives as compared to the reality.
Today, we shall uncover all the hidden mysteries regarding gorilla sex, mating, Gorilla courtship & reproduction.
Social Structure and Mating System
Before diving into gorilla sex lives, it’s important to understand that gorillas live and practice polygynous mating system where the giant dominant silverback is the only one that mates every female in the group.
Should the younger gorilla males (younger blackbacks) want to mate, they must choose to leave the gorilla family and create their own groups or they must challenge the current dominant silverback and can only then mate after defeating the silverback else remain sexually inactive throughout their lives.
The silverback’s role is not only reproductive but also to protect the family, parent the born baby gorillas, make decisions regarding there to feed from and where to stay and more. This explains why being a dominant silverback, a particular gorilla must display an unrivaled amount of strength which is displayed in manners, such as chest-beating or roaring, and physical confrontation when rival males challenge him.
How Do Gorillas Mate?
Gorillas are the largest ground-dwelling primates, found only in the mountainous forests of East and Central Africa. These fascinating creatures are divided into two main species: The Western and Eastern Gorilla.
Each species is further divided into two subspecies, resulting in four distinct groups: The Western Lowland Gorilla, Cross River Gorilla, Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Grauer’s Gorilla), and Mountain Gorilla.
Sharing about 98% of human DNA, gorillas are our closest relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos.
They are primarily herbivores, feeding on fruits, leaves, and tree shoots in dense African forests.
After reaching adulthood at 10 years, female gorillas reach their sexual maturity at 10 to 12 years, although ovulation starts earlier, around six years. However, they remain infertile until fully mature by the dominant silverback or by the young black backs that leave with them to form their own gorilla family (group).
Within a group, only the dominant silverback has exclusive mating rights with all females. Studies show that females remaining in their natal groups often avoid mating with the silverback who raised them and this is the reason why many of them leave the groups and join other new young blackbacks.
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Mating Behavior
Gorillas do not have a specific mating season however when sexually ready, a female gorilla shall exhibit sexual attraction to the silverback persuading him to mate with her; reproduction occurs throughout the year.
Similarly, to humans, a female gorilla’s ovulation cycle is 26 to 33 days, with a one-day window of heightened fertility. During this time, females may initiate mating by making eye contact, puckering their lips, following the male silverback or tapping the ground to attract the silverback’s attention.
If ignored, she may attempt to mate with other males. However, this may attract serious disciplinary actions from the silverback or even lead to division within the family because the other blackbacks do not have mating rights within the family. Watch it here.
The silverback can also initiate mating by touching or grunting at the female. If she resists, he might become aggressive to assert dominance.
Mating generally occurs on the ground, with the silverback on top. In both Western lowland and mountain gorillas, face-to-face mating is rare among gorillas.
Unique Reproductive Traits
Female gorillas occasionally use mating as a strategy to gain favor with the silverback or to prevent other females from conceiving and therefore in some ways become the ‘dormanant’ female.
Older, experienced females are often preferred by silverbacks for mating probably because of the experiences and other known reasons to the silverbacks. While Western Lowland Gorillas exhibit less selective mating behaviors, Mountain Gorillas prioritize fertile females.
Courtship and Reproduction & Weaning
If mating is successful, the gestation period lasts approximately 8.5 months before a baby gorilla is born.
Female gorillas give birth every four years before they are ready for mating with the silverback again, typically in the morning.
While a given female gorilla is sexually unready, the silverback is busy with other females to ensure there is a continuous expansion of the gorilla family.
Newborns are exclusively dependent on their mothers for survival. During the first four months, mothers carry their infants in their arms, and nursing occurs every three hours.
By the fourth months, infant gorillas can ride on their mother’s back, gradually gaining independence.
Weaning occurs at around 30 months, after which the mother resumes ovulation however, this given female gorilla shall not yet conceive/mate with the silverback until 4 years ahead.
Mortality rates among gorillas are high, with nearly half failing to reach adulthood. This is often due to group dynamics. When a new silverback takes over, he may kill un-weaned infants to mate with the adult females.
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What do a silverback’s penis (Gorilla dick) and testicles look like?
Compared to other great apes, gorillas have smaller reproductive organs relative to body size. Both the gorilla’s testicles and penis is pretty smaller compared to other apes – even humans.
A silverback’s erect penis measures only 3 to 6 cm, while chimpanzees’ can reach 8 to 18 cm.
The testicles of a gorilla weigh 30-35 g, whereas those of a chimpanzee weigh about 120 g; this compares to about 40 g in the human male.
Chimpanzee males need a longer penis due to the voluminous ano-genital swelling of the estrous females.
Not only is the erect chimpanzee penis, with which they court estrous females, larger than that of gorillas, but its bright color stands out in striking contrast to their dark pelt. In contrast, the gorilla male’s penis is small and black.
The smaller size reflects the low competition among gorilla males, as the dominant silverback is typically the sole mating partner for females and sex among gorillas especially Mountain gorillas is strictly for reproduction purposes.
The dominant silverback shall only mate with the fertile females only when they are ready to mate with her. A male silverback shall not force himself on the female gorilla not ready for mating however much he is attracted after showing sexual interest to the given female.
How long does gorilla mating/ gorilla sex last?
Similarly, to many humans, gorilla sex can last from1-5 minutes depending on many reasons. If the female gorilla displays good sex position, the male comes and does not take long however they have similar sex behaviors as compared to humans and chimpanzees.
Conclusions
It’s important to understand that gorillas embrace a polygamous mating system where the dominant silverbacks may mate with any female in the given gorilla group. Anytime the females are ready for mating, they will approach the giant silverback and persuade him to do his job.
Similar to humans, after the gorilla mating, the female shall carry the pregnancy for about 8.5 months before giving birth after which the female gorilla shall extensively take care of the born baby gorilla.
Since mating is only done by the dominant silverback, there is a great competition for dominance. Witnessing this in your Uganda gorilla safari can be much more rewarding than you may thing. Get in touch and we shall be happy to arrange an exciting adventure of the kind for you and your family/friends.
Anthony N
Anthony is a former Software Engineer tuned Safari Curator Enthusiast.
Combining technical expertise with creativity, he excels in crafting destination guides, cultural insights, and tech-enhanced travel content.
Believing in the transformative power of travel, Anthony inspires responsible travel and sustainability.
Featured in top travel publications and known for his workshops, he mentors aspiring creators while guiding audiences on authentic and meaningful journeys.
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