They do this through activities such as infant carrying and playing. However, as the baby gorilla gets older and starts venturing away from its mother, juveniles will participate in the young gorilla’s life. When the infant is young, the mother will try to shoo the curious gorillas away. Other related females will sometimes try to help out, especially young siblings of the infant. Infants and their moms remain in close proximity to each other and share a very close relationship for the infant’s first few years. Mothers are the primary caregivers, but the infant’s siblings and other juveniles sometimes try to help out! As they gets older and braver they will range further (frequently with support from siblings and other juveniles). Around 8 months, they’ll be walking and exploring within a few feet of mom. At around 3 months of age, gorilla infants will start to manipulate objects and explore their environment. This helps keep the infant safe, lets mom keep track of the baby during active moments like foraging or traveling, and provides comfort for the infant. Moms typically will always be in close physical contact with their infants for about half a year after they’re born. Infants typically stay in physical contact with their moms for 5 to 6 months. For males, this is between 136 – 219 kgs, or 300 – 485 lbs and for females, around 90 – 113 kg, or 200-250 lbs. By the time they’re adults, gorillas end up weighing more than the average human. That’s half the weight of the average human infant! However, gorillas grow faster and reach maturity around 12 years old. Gorilla moms have a roughly 8.5-month long gestation period, and infants weight about 1.4 – 1.8 kg (4 lb) when they’re born. Infant gorillas are smaller than human infants when they’re born.
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