Gorillas are regarded as mammals since they are warm blooded vertebrate animals with fur on their bodies and have mammary glands and produce their young ones live. Gorillas are the hugest species of the primate family and are one of the closest relatives of humans with 98% DNA similarity to that of man.
The other primates that are related to man are the chimpanzees, gibbons and orangutans. These primates different from the others as they do not have a tail at the hind as they are called the Apes. All these apes including the gorillas have the same respiratory, nervous and immune systems and almost the same skull structure as man.
In contrast with other primates, the gorillas are terrestrial animals implying that they spend most of their living time on the ground, they do not climb trees. These gorillas normally inhabit in much forested areas that is why they are only found in the tropical rain forests region of Africa. Gorillas are very shy peaceful animals that cannot harm humans unless incited although some people perceive the as dangerous and violent breasts. Gorillas are predominately herbivorous animals that feed on the plants and on some occasion small invertebrates (insects) in the forests. They have an average life span of 35-40 years if all conditions remain constant.