Amazing footage shows an extremely polite wild silverback gorilla waiting for a woman to step aside before going about his business.
In all seriousness, this is incredible footage.
Gorillas are striking, awe-inspiring animals; and, believe it or not, we share nearly 96 percent of our DNA with them. Highly intelligent, these primates are known to laugh, grieve, develop strong family bonds, make use of tools, and even think of the past and future.
The great apes are found only in tropical forests of equatorial Africa, and are the planet’s largest living primates. The animals can reach weight of up to 600 pounds and have an unbelievable arm span of 8 feet.
Gorillas tend to live in troops led by a male silverback and accompanied by multiple adult females and their offspring. They communicate in a series of grunts and barks, screams and roars. Deep, “rumbling belches” are commonly heard during times of rest and feeding, and signal contentment. Despite their strength, individuals generally try to resolve conflicts with displays or threat behaviors rather than becoming physical with one another. Threats include throwing vegetation, chest beating, thumping the ground, and rising onto two feet.
Full video:
There are two species of gorilla: eastern and western. Unfortunately, both are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. An estimated 316,000 western gorillas and 5,000 eastern gorillas remain on the planet.
You can help protect them by supporting gorilla conservation organizations like the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund; recycling cell phones or electronics to reduce demand for the metals in their habitat, and look for sustainable palm oil, wood, and other eco-friendly products.
This group of tourists was lucky the encounter didn’t go more like this:
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