Thursday, January 26, 2012

A guest among gorillas

Fewer than one thousand wild mountain gorillas are left in the world. About two and a half minutes into this video, there's an awesome encounter between a man and a small group of these gorillas. There are some moments of tension initially, especially before the large one settles down (notice how the man is keeping his head down at first and also making sure to avoid eye contact, which can be a sign of aggressive intent), but mostly it's an experience of joy and wonder. I love how they settle around, sniff him out, groom him a bit. He's a novelty, but non-threatening and vaguely similar to them so he remains welcomed, fortunately for him.