GORILLAS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 102, 4 May 1925, Page 16

GORILLAS

FOUND IN EASTERN CONGO

NEW A~ND PROLIFIC SPECIES

A TERROR TO THE COUNTRYSIDE

The great discovery in Bechuanaland of the Australopithecus, as it has been called, which has given such prominence to the abiding question of human ancestry, has led me to write these short notes on my recent expedition to Lake Kivu in search of a new species of gorilla that .report said existed there, says T. -Alexander Burns, F.R.G.S., in the "Illustrated London News." Several interests were combined with the venture, the principal amongst them being that of the Field Museum of Chicago, and I had the advantage of the co-operation of Mr. Edmund Heller, the tamous American naturalist who accompanied the late Theodore Roosevelt on his big trip t 0 East Africa, as well as Mr. A. M. Collins, another representative of the same museum. He reached Lake Kivu by way of iJar-es-balaam to Lake Tanganyika, and thence northward along" the Rusisi Vaile7' -a- reaching the northern end ot .Kivu, we struck west through the great mountain ranges of the Masisi Diswk V' TCT te BelSJan. outpost called Wahkal, on the Lowa River. 1 passed this place during my expedition of 1922, and saw a gorilla skull, there; but this only verified the reports that were curv rent about there being gorillas in this 7™'- and did nothing to denWy .the species. What are foS d 1 t t'COau <: d sPeci^-are to be ™1 °, ,tlle high bamboo-covered r ß;V at, ««l<«e the north-western as B a ,n!-, B J^fl^* 3 as far so««» ».,M I °? 6 Burton Gulf ' alld *™ Kens there; but the fact that these great apes were reported to exist tvo days' journey to the south of Walikali, and might prove to be an intermediate species between the highland form (gorilla bermgei), and the lowland Wist boast species (gorilla gorilla) attracted us, so we decided to make the latter place the first centre from which to start our work of collecting. Up to the time of our visit no specimen of these gorillas had ever been obtained by anybody, and the species remained unidentified. Then, again, apart from the gorillas, this West Kivu region held out other attractions, for the Walembo who inhabit it are amongst some of the most interesting tribes in Equatorial Africa; but few, if an y, explorers had ever penetrated the recesses of this unknown land.

...Obtaining porters and gnides from VVahkali, and having collected all the information we could about the country ahead, we struck south from Walikali and on the third day reached the Utu River, or the "Gorilla Valley," as local tradition calls it. . GREAT DEPREDATORS. We found gorillas in immense numbers there, and the natives not only going in tear of their lives, but, in places, very short-of food, owing to the depredations ot these animals in their plantations. It appeared that two or three bands of these apes preyed on every village, and the very old male that was eventually shot by us had taken up his quarters directly on the main path to the village in which we made our camp, and literally held the entire .countryside .at his mercy.

Our introduction l 0 the first band of these gorillas was rather a curious one. It happens that the day after our arrival at the Utu, Collins and myself had j located _ the animals in a thick patch of old native garden overgrown with creepers and tangled foliage, and were carc-lully-stalking them on hands and knees when we heard a loud, rumbling noise, and the earth started to shake and rock beneath us. We realised, of "course, mat we were experiencing' an earthquake of exceptional violence,'which was followed at a short interval by a prolonged report from a clear sky This shook up the gorillas to such an extent that they went off stamping and screaming, apparently thoroughly frightened, and spoiling our day's sport. The securing of the dangerous old male gorilla. wnich I -have already mentioned.is worth a short description. Collins and Renaud, two of our party, were on this occasion out; together, and had theluck t ?v bag the animal in a deep ravine, which was, however, so thickly overgrown with brushwood .and creepnttu S-ffl if° ved t0 be a task of "° little difficulty and danger. Gorillas, in my experience, are not unusually dangerous animals to hunt; but this one must have been a very cantankerous old male, and the chase contained all the elements of danger, that the most hardened big-game hunter could well wish for, rather ' altering one's ideas of this ape as a sporting adversary. At any rate, he gave my two friends all they wanted m the way of excitement, for one afternoon at least, for he seemed deter- ! mined to chase out the intruders from, his stronghold, and, at the last, was shot, in the head not three paces away in the act of bringing home a last rush. I give the animal's, measurements, which were ■as follow :—Height, from heel to foot to crown of head, 66iin; span of arms, 92in; chest, 63in; from root of tail to top of head,-434in; barrel, 68in; thigh, 263 m; length of arm, 43in; forearm, 17jin; biceps, 172 in; foot, 12iin long; and weight, 3501b. On examination of this adult animal, Heller and I came to the conclusion -that we had .before us an intermediate race between the Kiyu,gorilla of the Kifl Valley and the lowland West African species; but, although their habitat extends westward right down to the Congo -Riynr itself, as far as we could ascertain this new sub-species does not intermingle with the West African race, for there is a huge stretch of country, between o ' 800 .miles or more, in which no gorillas are found. DIET OF HERBAGE. As regards his food, the gorilla'is very conservative, and never so happy as when in his favourite haunt—a forest ol bamboos—munching the succulent ground shoots, or climbing over the bamboo stems, upon which he is in the habit of making a platform to take a sunbath bpeaking from a special knowledge of the Eastern Congo gorilla, it may be said that its food consists, apart from bamboo shoots, entirely of herbage— docks, sorrel, hemlocks/ and so on—althongh honey may form part- i>f the menu; He does rml gnib for roots nether does ho oaftn.it as a rule. Keporl says that the West African species is to a'certain extent carnivorous, as it has tl, o Jjiil.it ,-,f catching arid Rilling young rats :,,.d birds. This monster ape seldom climbs trees, his hands, but, especially his feet, not .being formed j for tins purpose, lie can. however, walk over v bamboo forest as if it wen; an aerial meadow— a curious feat. This effect is given when the hunter liv.Us out Iron, some high vaiitajre-poiiil. such as a tree or mountain side, across ;i flat sea of waving bamboo tups in search of his quarry. If h 0 j s hicky. J, e will ! .ee bobbing black heads and huge arms stretching nut amidst the greenery. A solitary ni:il ( , „r "old" nia.r"goril]<i niiiv often be found-alouc, having been

beat-en in :i fight or driven off by a younger and stronger rival; but more often than not gorillas go about in small family parties of six or eight. The father and mother gorilla only will then make "nests" for themselves on the ground, whilst the others—youngsters of different ages—huddle around them to keep warm, the youngest of all sitting close to its mother's breast. I have never seen more than one fully adult male in a troop; but what appeared to be several fully grown females were usually present.

The gorilla, shunning observation at all times, is' of a silent, morose, and even phlegmatic disposition. He seldom utters a sound unless thoroughly alarmed, and then his screaming roar is quite terrifying. When interested and curious, he gives a loud whine like a dog. following this by a resonant "cloppin"" made by beating his closed hand on his bare breast. Apart from using this beating of the chest to frighten away an intruder, the gorilla seems to employ it b°t. h ,? s a danger signal and as a means ot indicating his whereabouts to his companions. I have never heard these apes utter a sound at night, and not often in the day, by which I judge they are not quarrelsome, the opposite to chimpanzees and baboons.

The eyes of the younger gorillas have a yellow iris. These younger ones have also very little sense of danger. I have, for instance, watched a group of them for fully half a minute, at a distance of only a few yards, before they turned and ran away to their parents farther off. The whole troop never went far when alarmed, or even when fired at. Neither their sense of smell nor their si"ht seems strongly developed. As regards longevity, 1 believe that gorillas, being free from molestation, famine, or disease live to a much greater age than man.