King Kong? ...NOT!

Gorillas are large, quiet, gentle apes that live on the continent of Africa. The first thing that pops into ones mind when we hear the word Gorilla is the movie King-Kong. Gorillas have been given somewhat of a bad rap from TV and the movies, often portraying them as being ferocious and brutal. Although gorillas are often portrayed as aggressive, dangerous killers, they are really shy and peaceful vegetarians.

The fact is, there is a massive loss of habitat in Africa today that has put the Gorilla on the brink of extinction. Gorillas have rather long arms, short, chunky bodies and a wide chest. A Gorillas entire body is covered with brownish hair except for their fingers, hands, face, armpits and bottom of their feet.

Gorillas have fairly large heads with protruding foreheads, and their heads are topped with a crest, called the sagittal crest. Gorillas also feature small ears and dark-brown eyes but unlike many other apes, Gorillas do not have a tail.

Gorillas have senses somewhat like those of humans. They seem to be slightly nearsighted but they are able to see colors. Gorillas hands are much like ours, having five digits including an opposable thumb. Their feet also have five digits, but they one up us human folks by having an opposable big toe. That means a Gorilla can hold things with both their hands and their feet. Now thats something that would come in mighty handy for a frazzled human mom trying to juggle her housework and take care ...