Kathy Meyer, age 10, of Sargent, Nebraska, for her question:

Where do wild gorillas live?

The big black apes are at home in tropical forests. Zoologists separate them into two slightly different races, but both races are natives of Africa. The coast gorilla makes his home in the thick forested Cameroon mountains and wanders into tropical regions along the west African coast. The mountain gorilla lives farther inland. He wanders through the steamy jungles along the Congo River. Gorillas are not very plentiful, even in their native jungles. People who want to visit them must travel long, hot, hazardous journeys to gorilla country.

Even then, they may not see the big apes, for they are very shy. The male may be six feet tall and weigh 450 pounds, but as a rule he would rather hide than pick a fight. He roams the jungle with a family party of several wives and a troupe of growing children. When they choose to keep out of sight, they quietly merge with the jungle shadows and not even the sharpest human eyes can spot them.