Bobby Deen, age 14, of Hillsboro, Ore., for his question:

HOW MANY BABIES DO GORILLAS HAVE?

A baby gorilla is an only child, though never a lonely only child. His immediate family includes a devoted mother, several friendly aunts, a protective papa and almost aways a number of growing cousins. The family, of course, is at home in certain equatorial jungles of central Africa.

During her lifetime of perhaps 38 years, a female gorilla produces four or perhaps five offspring. She bears them one at a time and her system of planned parenthood spaces them three or four years apart. In this way, she is able to devote all the necessary motherhood to the raising of each youngster. Even so, his chances of surviving his first few years are only 40% to 50%.

From captive gorillas, we know that the babies are very sensitive  scared of water, scared of the dark  and prone to various infections. Most of all, they cannot bear to be alone, even for short periods. When neglected, they pine away and die from sheer loneliness.

In his native habitat, the young gorilla stays very close to his mother through this first three years. Meantime, his life is filled with the constant companionship of perhaps half a dozen adult aunties and their children of various ages. Day and night, the family group is guided and protected by an adult male  a fierce looking fellow who may stand six feet tall and weigh 400 pounds or so.

Though the sight of a male gorilla can scare off a hungry leopard, he is a big softy with the youngsters of his group. He patiently allows the frisky rascals to jump on his back and tweak his shaggy hair. However, when trouble approaches, he may utter a low growl which is sure to send them scrambling to the safety of the nearest tree.

During the day the close knit group of great apes wanders several miles through the jungle, feeding on assorted vegetation. The youngsters and some of the females may scramble through the trees. The massive male stays on the ground, stooping to walk on the knuckles of his hands.

At night the group stops to sleep  where they build themselves nests of leafy twigs. The babes share a nest with their mothers. The females and older children usually build their separate nests in the trees. The big male builds his leafy bed on the ground and usually sleeps with his back leaning against a tree trunk  and no doubt one of his watchful old eyes stays partly open.