signs of human activity. These gorillas favor areas where edible plants are more copious. Swamp forest is now considered an important food source and habitat for the western lowland gorilla. These areas support the gorillas in both the wet and the dry season of the forest. The forest of the Republic of Congo is currently considered to host the majority of the western lowland gorilla population. They protect the gorillas with the isolation of their large swampy forest areas. Diet As primarily herbivorous, the main diet of western lowland gorilla groups is roots, shoots, fruit, wild celery, tree bark and pulp which is provided for in the thick forest of Central and West Africa. During the wet season gorillas commonly consume fruits. While in the dry season, there is a decrease in the consumption of fleshy fruits, but they still continue to eat other kinds of fruits. The diversity of fruits consumed was higher in the poor fruit year, when favored fruit species failed to produce large crops. They may also eat insects from time to time. The common food item within fibers are the herbaceous stems. Important food species have been divided into three categories. Staple foods which are eaten on a daily/weekly basis throughout the year, seasonal foods which are present in the majority of resources when available and fallback foods which are always available, but eaten only or mainly during fruit-scarce months. The adult will eat around of food per day. Gorillas will climb trees up to 15 meters in height in search of food. They never completely strip vegetation from a single area since the rapid regrowth of the vegetation allows them to stay within a reasonably confined home range for extended periods of time. They eat a combination of fruits and foliage, providing a balance of nutrients, depending on the time of year. However, when ripe fruit is available, they tend to eat more fruit as opposed to foliage. When ripe fruit is in scarce supply, they eat leaves, herbs and bark. During the rainy months of July and August, fruit is ripe; however, in the dry seasons, ripe fruit is scarce. Gorillas choose fruit that is high in sugar for energy, as well as fiber. Relationship with humans The presence of western lowland gorillas has allowed humans to further the study of how gorillas compare with humans in regards to human diseases, behavior, linguistic