Scatter the Silverback Gorilla

My name, Scatter, is a reminder of when God scattered the people at the Tower of Babel. When the global flood ended, God told Noah and his family to spread throughout the earth. However, as time went on, the people did not obey God. Instead of spreading out, they stayed together. Genesis 11:1 tells us that everyone spoke the same language at that time. Because of this, the people were able to unite together to build a great city, with a very tall tower. Genesis 11:9 tells us its name and what happened next: “Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.”

To get the people to separate and spread out, God confused their language. This made it difficult for the people to work together. They stopped building the tower and the city and moved apart, filling the earth. As a result, there are many different cultures all over the world today.

Just like people spread throughout the earth, animals did too. Gorillas ended up on the continent of Africa, the only place where we live in the wild today. Some people think that gorillas like me are related to humans like you—but we’re not.

We gorillas are members of the pongid (pon-jid), or great ape, kind, which God created on day six of creation week. God also created humans on day six of creation, but he made people special and separately from the animals. All people, including you, are uniquely created in God’s image!

God gave gorillas some special features to help us thrive in our rainforest habitat. We have thumbs on our feet to help us grasp things and climb. It is like having hands for feet! We also have very strong arms. For humans, your lower bodies are usually stronger than your upper bodies. But it is the opposite for gorillas. Our muscular arms support our bodies so that we can walk on all fours, climb, lift heavy objects, and defend ourselves. Some say that a silverback gorilla has the strength of six to eight men! Yes, I am very strong.

But being strong does not make you a good swimmer. We gorillas mostly stay away from deep bodies of water because we cannot really swim. And because we are so muscular and heavy, we cannot float. We rarely drink water either, because we get most of our water from the plants that we eat.

Our Creator is so thoughtful and brilliant to give us animals the abilities we need to survive. And as his special creation made in his image, he provides for you, too.

Gorilla Facts

Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Gorilla
Size: 4–6 feet tall
Diet: Leaves, shoots, stems (sometimes insects, bark, and wood)
Habitat: Lowland tropical rainforests of Central Africa
Lifespan: 35–40 years

Fun Facts

• Some gorillas have been known to use sticks to measure the depth of a body of water to see if it’s safe for them to cross.
• There are two species of gorillas—eastern and western gorillas.

For More Information:

• Gorilla
• Apes and Humans: Different Saliva!

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