What Do Gorillas Eat? How Are They Such Muscular Herbivores?

For the most part, gorillas are herbivores, meaning they rely on plants for nutrition. They consume a variety of plant species, including leaves, stems and roots to meet their dietary needs.

Mountain gorillas, found mainly in the Virunga Volcanoes national park, rely heavily on fibrous vegetation like thistles, nettles and bamboo shoots.

Western lowland gorillas, however, live in forests that provide a different selection of food. Unlike mountain gorillas, they eat more fruit when it’s available, making up a significant portion of their diet.

While gorillas don’t rely on hunting, their diets are rich in diverse plant matter, giving them plenty of energy for their daily activities.

Backup Feeding Habits

In rare cases, gorillas have also been observed to prey on small animals and insects when their preferred food source is scarce.

However, the jungle environments like those occupied by western lowland gorillas tend to be rich in all kinds of edible vegetation, so the apes remain classified as herbivores.

Just like humans, gorillas change their diets based on what’s available in their environment. They’re highly adaptable and can consume a variety of foods to survive challenging conditions.

During the dry season, when fruit is scarce, western gorillas rely more on fibrous plants and tree bark to get enough nutrients.

Mountain gorillas, on the other hand, don’t have as much access to fruit, so their diets remain consistent throughout the year. Instead of seeking fruit, they eat tough leaves and stems, which are available year-round in their habitat.

This difference in diet is one of the major distinctions between western gorillas and their mountain-dwelling cousins.

Gorillas often share their environment with sympatric chimpanzees, but their diets are quite different.

While gorillas primarily eat plant-based foods, chimpanzees have a more varied diet that includes insects, small animals and even occasional meat. Gorillas, on the other hand, stick to their leafy greens and fruit-heavy diet.

This dietary difference plays a role in how these great apes interact with their ecosystems. While chimpanzees forage at different levels of the forest and sometimes compete for fruit, gorillas are more likely to stick to low-growing vegetation.

This specialization allows both species to coexist in the wild without completely depleting the same resources.

It might be hard to believe that such powerful animals get their strength from plants, but gorillas prove that a diet rich in leafy greens can support massive muscle mass. Their digestive systems are designed to break down fibrous vegetation, allowing them to extract the necessary nutrients from even the toughest plants.

Research also suggests that they get less energy from starchy vegetables like potatoes because their bodies are adapted to much denser plant sources.

So, the next time you see a gorilla, remember: It might look intimidating, but it's more interested in a handful of bamboo shoots than anything else. Whether you spot gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes or deep in the rainforests of Central Africa, their plant-based diets keep them thriving in the wild!

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.