aintained by this dominant Silverback as well. This social structure is very important to a group’s survival. The female gorillas also have a dominance pattern. The most dominant female is usually the one that has been in the group the longest, and spends most of her time grooming the dominant silverback. Fossey’s had observed numerous groups of gorillas ranging from a lone Silver or Blackback to groups as big as twenty-one with as many as two Silverbacks. Often a female gorillas biological Father would mate with her when she reached sexual maturity sometimes to show the Silverbacks dominance. In some cases because it was the only breeding opportunity within the group. The dominant Silverback would then try and acquire new females from another rival group. These interactions often result in a group losing members, or even acquiring new members.It is the dominant Silverback that will try and intimidate the rival groups Silverback and then take a female through intimidation. he gorillas that Dian Fossey studied all showed a gentle side often not seen from unhabituated gorillas. Dian Fossey stated that gorillas need for contact between members gave them a peaceful way about them. Grooming is a form of contact between group members that is not so much a way of keeping the fur of gorillas clean but a vital social skill that is used as a form of contact between members. This contact between members of a group seemed to comfort the gorillas, and add to the group’s cohesion. Through numerous contacts the younger members of the group often groomed Fossey. From this research Fossey was able to abolish the myth of man eating gorillas....
