Name: Akpan
Latin Name: Gorilla gorilla
Average Life-Span: 40
Sex: Male
Biome: Tropical Rain forest (floor more than canopy)
Place: Nigeria (West Africa)
Eating Habits: Primarily fruit, but are also foliverous and feed on termites.
Potential Predators: Cheetah's, Jaguars, Humans, and (though not very often) Crocodilians
Appearance:
Behavior: Western Lowland Gorillas generally live in groups that range from sizes of only 2 individuals, generally young males or a pair of mates) to 40 individuals. They are not incredibly territorial, as territories very often overlap. When individuals of separate groups near each other, hostile interactions are avoided. Larger groups have a well established pecking order with 1 adult silverback (12+ years) being the dominant figure and most other individuals subservient (to a degree). Young individuals are parented by the females of the group and at about 2 years are weaned. It is not uncommon for males to care for a young one, but never to the extent of carrying it around. The male silverback will defend its group with its life, the females being its mates and the young its progeny. Young males generally leave their groups to find another one to join at around 4 to 6 years of age. They are not tolerated very much by the silverbacks. When a male wishes to oust a silverback so that it may become the dominant male of the group, it will challenge that silverback, killing or merely injuring it. The young of the defeated silverback are often killed by the male.

Their migratory patterns are actually directed by their diets, the dying of certain plants by the changing of the season are what cause the gorillas to move further west during dry seasons.

Although they are diurnal, the majority of their time is spent resting. Each time a gorilla rests, it constructs a new nest, sometimes they sleep in trees, sometimes they gather surrounding foliage and pull it beneath themselves, sometimes they bend branches or break them. At any given time, it could be any of these or any combination of them. When gorillas forage, they search the forest floor, wade in water, or even climb into trees. Although their weight may exceed 400lbs, it often plays no role in how high the gorilla will climb.

Adaptations: Long digestive tracts (including extended cecum) to digest plant material like cellulose which requires a high amount of energy to digest.