As you might expect, mountain gorillas form extremely strong family ties, particularly between mother and baby. For the first 5 months, the infant is in constant contact with the mother, who in turn remains close to the dominant silverback of the whoop for protection. (A group of gorillas is a 'whoop' for any collective noun geeks). The infant will be suckling every hour or more, as seen in the first shot here.
After 5 months, the infant may stray from the mother for a few seconds at a time and then, at 1 year old, they wander up to 5 metres or so from her- again, only for a few seconds.
By 2 years old, the infants are nursing approximately every 2 hours. They are still sharing a sleeping nest with the mother, but beginning to wander farther afield, only remaining in close contact with the female for about 50% of the time.
Finally they are weaned at 3 years old, and the mother will begin ovulating again. At this point, the silverback has a large grin on his face.
Gorilla infants learn from watching the adults and sub adults, often just sitting nearby and staring at them with intense concentration.
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