In 1847 two American explorers, Thomas Savage and Jeffries Wyman, described a new species of ape from the area of the Gabon river at a meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History. This ape was the now-familiar western lowland gorilla, which was given the scientific name of Gorilla gorilla. Tales of the giant ape had circulated for several hundred years before Savage and Wyman's report. T. H. Huxley's 1963 essay On The Natural History of the Man-Like Apes summarizes many of the earlier accounts.
The western lowland gorilla is named Gorilla gorilla gorilla to distinguish it from the mountain gorilla. Another population, the eastern lowland gorilla, is given the scientific name (Gorilla gorilla graueri). The eastern lowland gorilla is the largest of the three subspecies with males reaching a weight of 165 kg. The mountain gorilla follows with a typical male weighing around 155 kg. The eastern lowland gorilla is the smallest, with males weighing around 140 kg. Females in each subspecies weigh about half as much as the males.
In 1861 the first native accounts of a monstrous ape living in the environs of the Virunga volcanoes in Eastern Africa reached Westerners. The natives called this creature ngagi or ngila. Westerners discounted the native reports as folk tales until 1898 when Ewert Grogan came across a skeleton of the creature. Unfortunately he did not bring the skeleton down from the mountains. In 1902 an army officer Captain Robert von Beringe and his companions killed two of the apes on Mount Sabinyo during an expedition to establish the boundaries of German East Africa. They managed, with difficulty, to bring one of the corpses back for scientific examination. It was given the scientific name Gorilla gorilla beringei.
The first successful studies of the mountain gorilla in the wild took place starting in 1959. In 1967 Dian Fossey founded the Karisoke Resarch Centre in Rwanda to provide a focal point for muntain gorilla research and conservation. Fossey herself studied four gorilla families over a period of twenty years until she was murdered in 1985, probably by poachers. Fossey's book Gorillas in the Mist brought the story of these "gentle giants" to a wide audience.
Currently there are less than 700 mountain gorillas left alive in the wild. About 320 live in the Virunga Volcano conservation area on the border of Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda. Another 300 live about 45 kilometers away in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Unlike lowland gorillas, mountain gorillas fare poorly in zoos. None has lived for more than a few years in captivity. Mountain gorillas are in danger of extinction from habitat loss, poaching, and war.
Bigfoot researchers point out that the forty year search for the mountain gorilla demonstrates that a large ape can elude detection for decades, and that native tales of such creatures can sometimes be based in fact.
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In addition to the stamps listed below, silver coins issued by Zaire in 1975 (left) and 1996 (right) depict the mountain gorilla. |
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This stamp of the mountain gorilla is one of sixteen on a souvenir sheet depicting endangered species of the world. |
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This stamp of the mountain gorilla is one of six on a souvenir sheet depicting endangered African wildlife. |
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This sheet of six stamps depicts a group of six gorillas including characteristic silver-backed males. |
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This souvenir sheet depicts a mountain gorilla eating a leaf on a background of a mother gorilla and her child. |
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A mountain gorilla appears on this souvenir sheet which depicting tropical rainforest animals of the world. In addition to the mountain gorilla, the sheet also portrays the African elephant, the impala, the leopard, the grey parrot, the hippopotamus, the pygmy chimpanzee (bonobo), and the African green python. |
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This stamp depicting the mountain gorilla appears on a souvenir sheet of endangered wildlife of southern Africa. The other animals shown include the African black rhinoceros, the leopard, the roseate tern, the mountain zebra, and the Zanzibar red colobus monkey. |
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This stamp depicting the mountain gorilla is part of a set of fifteen wildlife stamps. |
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First in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Second in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Third in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Fourth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Fifth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Sixth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Seventh in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Eighth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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This stamp is part of a set of eight stamps depicting primates. |
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First in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Second in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Third in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Fourth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Fifth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Sixth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Seventh in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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Eighth in a set of eight stamps depicting the mountain gorilla. |
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First in a set of four stamps issued under the aegis of the World Wildlife Fund. Also see the maximum card and the first day cover. |
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Second in a set of four stamps issued under the aegis of the World Wildlife Fund. Also see the maximum card, the first day cover, and the deluxe proof. |
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Third in a set of four stamps issued under the aegis of the World Wildlife Fund. Also see the maximum card and the first day cover. |
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Fourth in a set of four stamps issued under the aegis of the World Wildlife Fund. Also see the maximum card and the first day cover. |
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This stamp depicting the mountain gorilla appears on a minisheet of six depicting endangered species. |
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This stamp is part of a set of six stamps depicting endangered species. Another stamp in this set shows the pygmy hippopotamus. |
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This stamp is part of a set of eight stamps appearing on a souvenir sheet depicting wildlife of Africa and surrounding areas. Since one of the animals depicted is the tiger, this includes a lot of territory! |
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This stamp depicting the mountain gorilla is part of a set of fourteen portraying African wildlife. |
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This stamp shows the mountain gorilla. The stamp commemorates the eighteenth anniverary of the Pan African Postal Union. |
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This stamp is one of a set of six depicting primates. |
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This minisheet depicts a pair of mountain gorillas. |
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This stamp depicting a mountain gorilla appears on a souvenir sheet along with five other stamps portraying endangered species of Africa. The other stamps portray the black rhinoceros, leopard, chimpanzee, Grant's zebra, and the African elephant. |
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Last modified by pib on July 6, 2003.
