In the canopy of Uganda"s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a mountain gorilla leans into a meal of succulent green leaves. By day"s end, she"ll likely eat close to 40 pounds of foliage. Locals call this forest Bwindi, which means "impenetrable," but to this mountain gorilla, it"s simply home. Like us (and most primates), these gentle giants have opposable thumbs, which makes picking and eating an easy task. Also like us, mountain gorillas prefer hanging out on the ground. In fact, they"re known to stand upright and walk short distances with a remarkably human-like gait. We humans share 98 percent of our DNA with gorillas (both the eastern and western species), nearly as much as we share with chimps and bonobos. So yes, even though they have more body hair, we"re all hominids.
With leaves this tasty, who cares about a view?
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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World Bicycle Day
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Combating extinction with citizen science
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Giant kelp in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
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World Turtle Day
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Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
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Spreadsheet Day
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Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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Crested caracaras
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Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
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Evidence of human habitation
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East River crossing
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A magnificent monolith
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At the foot of Dubrovnik s Gibraltar
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Pont dArcole over the Seine river, Paris, France
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World Art Day
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Sea Otter Awareness Week
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Welcome to the Hoh
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Rockin with the rockhoppers
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An Alpine fairy-tale castle
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An historic forest
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Martinique
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Telašćica Nature Park, Dugi Otok, Croatia
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Santo Antão Island in the Republic of Cabo Verde
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Great wildebeest migration at Mara River, Kenya
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Summer winds down in the Hamptons
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Colle Santa Lucia, Dolomites, Italy
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Isla del Pescado on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
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An enduring vision
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Singing praises of the oceans
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Celebrating a young girl s age-old discovery