How Does a Gorilla Grow up?

When female gorillas reach sexual maturity, they develop a hormone cycle similar to that of human females. Female mountain gorillas can ovulate for the first time when they are about 8 years old, but usually the first ovulation happens in their 10th year. Captive gorillas usually reach sexual maturity faster, sometimes in their 6th year. By comparison, girls of western industrialized countries reach sexual maturity at 12 years at the earliest.
Reaching adulthood, female gorillas usually leave the group they were born in and join a new partner. In their choice of males, gorilla females can be quite particular: Usually they transfer to a new group several times before they settle down with a certain silverback male.
In male gorillas, puberty extends over several years. This is when a blackback male turns into a silverback - the silvery back, the huge canines and the other secondary sexual characteristics develop. When exactly males reach sexual maturity has not yet been determined. In captivity, occasionally individuals just under 7 years old turn out to be fertile.
Free-ranging mountain gorilla males are fully grown at approximately 15 years of age. Like the females, they usually have to leave the group on reaching adulthood. After leaving, they often stay on their own until they are joined by females.