MOUNTAIN GORILLAS - News Roundup

A few interesting items of Gorilla related news that we've not covered recently.

From LiveScience.com - Why Do Gorillas Eat Rotting Wood?

Gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda will suck on wood chips for several minutes before spitting them. Sometimes they chew on them until their gums bleed. They have also been seen licking the bases of tree stumps and the insides of decayed logs, and breaking off pieces of wood to munch on later. Gorillas will return daily to the same stump and take turns feeding.

Also from LiveScience.com - Do Gorillas Go Through Menopause Too?

"Do they have hot flashes? Do they get grouchy? We haven't been able to measure those things yet, but give us time,'' said study co-author Sue Margolis, a former Brookfield Zoo researcher and now curator of primates at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.

From SFGate.com - Village has a gorilla economy

Jenina Tukahirwa's arts and crafts shop is about 20 yards from the entrance to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
[...]
It is here where increasing numbers of tourists are tracking what park wardens say is a growing population of its endangered mountain gorilla.

"Our people are benefiting," Tukahirwa said while sitting in her shop, surrounded by carved figures of gorillas, woven baskets and other locally made crafts.