Jean-Louis Tu <[log in to unmask]>:
>Perhaps this explains why vegan animals can be so strong
>(assuming of course that the gorilla's staples also have a 40% protein
>content, approximately).

Copyright 1999 by Thomas E. Billings, all rights reserved. Permission
required before cross-posting.

Tom:
Great post, Jean-Louis!

Re: protein content of gorilla diet. A recent study of the diet of
lowland gorillas found that the diet was:
1) without accounting for colonic fermentation, on a dry weight basis,
57.0% protein by calories
2) including the (estimated) energy input from colonic fermentation,
the diet is 24.3% protein, on a caloric basis.

Note that lowland gorillas eat far more fruit than mountain gorillas,
who eat more leaves. Thus one would expect the protein as % of calories
to be substantially higher for mountain gorillas.

The cited article (ref below) has a few mistakes in it (e.g., claiming
that "only chimpanzees consume and occasionally hunt vertebrates"; in
reality a number of primate species consume vertebrates), but it is still
a worthwhile article, esp. as it gives the macronutrient profiles of
a number of the common foods of the lowland gorilla. Additionally,
the protein figures above should raise some doubts about the crank science
theories one finds in raw circles, that allege that protein is somehow
harmful except in very tiny amounts.

Ref:
   Popovich, D G; Jenkins, D J A; Kendall, C W C; Direnfeld, E S; Carroll, R W;
   Tariq, N; Vidgen, E.
     The western lowland gorilla diet has implications for the health of humans
   and other hominoids.
     Journal of Nutrition, v.127, n.10, (1997): 2000-2005.

Tom Billings