What’s on the menu for Zoo Atlanta’s gorillas?

When you think about feeding a gorilla, you might imagine a giant mountain of food. And with an animal as large as a western lowland gorilla, it does take quite a bit of food to keep them fueled! But at Zoo Atlanta, feeding our gorillas is about much more than simply filling their bellies. What they eat and how they receive it are important parts of their care.

In the rainforests of western and central Africa, western lowland gorillas are primarily herbivores. Their natural diet includes leaves, stems, shoots, roots, flowers, and seeds, along with fruit when it is available. They may also occasionally eat insects such as termites and ants.

Because so much of their diet comes from plants, gorillas spend a significant portion of their day foraging, stripping leaves, and manipulating small pieces of food. Their teeth and strong jaw muscles help them process the tough, fibrous plant material that makes up the bulk of their diet. What’s available can change with the seasons, so gorillas must adapt to what’s on the menu in their current environment.

At Zoo Atlanta, our western lowland gorillas receive a carefully prepared diet that provides the nutrients they need while also giving them opportunities to exhibit natural feeding behaviors.

Their diet includes a variety of produce, browse, and primate chow. Some of the foods you may see them eating on habitat can include leafy greens (collard greens, kale, romaine), vegetables (carrots, onion, cucumber, celery, turnip, squash), and fruit (melon, apple, grapes, citrus).

Browse—branches, bark from trees, and leaves—is especially important and a large part of our gorillas’ diets. Depending on the day, they may be munching bamboo, mulberry, elm, oak, or honeysuckle! Zoo Atlanta has a dedicated Browse Team that collects safe plant material for animals throughout the Zoo who have browse as part of their daily diet.

One of the most interesting parts of feeding animals at the Zoo is that it involves a lot more than just serving it up in a dish! In the morning, portions of the gorillas’ fruits and vegetables are chopped and scattered throughout their habitat. This encourages them to move around and search for their food, much like they would while foraging in the wild. Browse and leafy greens can also be scattered throughout the habitat, giving them plenty to investigate and munch on.

For the Gorilla Care Team, every meal is an opportunity to support the health and well-being of the gorillas, whether it is through providing mental stimulation and enrichment or working to build positive relationships and help with cooperative care behaviors through training! Keepers regularly incorporate food into enrichment devices that work to promote problem solving, manipulation, and tool use—other natural behaviors they would regularly practice in the wild. Next time you are watching the gorillas, see if you can spot them manipulating their metal basket feeders or their PVC tubes that have greens and veggies hidden inside. You aren’t just watching a gorilla eat—you are watching an animal forage, explore, problem-solve, and behave like a gorilla.

Shannon W.
Keeper III, Gorillas