Gorillas are amongst the most fascinating animals that roam the earth today. The fact that they are so like us but at the same time, so physically powerful has amazed people from the beginning of time. Many scientists have made their life goal to preserve as many of these wonderful animals as they can possibly do.
Many poachers have hunted them for many reasons and their numbers have gone down dramatically. Even to a point of considering them to be at risk of extinction. Gorillas live in well-organized groups. There’s a leader called the silverback gorilla, who was given that name because of the coloring on his back side. The group can also have other male gorillas but only one leader.
The other male gorillas are usually offspring of the silverback with the females in the group. The silverback gorilla gets to have as many females as he can in the group and no other gorilla can do anything about it. He is the only one who can mate with the females. If another of the male gorillas defies the silverback, he is usually taken care of swiftly.
The silverback’s most important job is to take care of the group and fend off intruders. These intruders can be other gorillas from other groups or even humans. Gorillas do not usually show hostility towards humans, except when they perceive them to be threats. When this happens, the gorilla will usually send the intruders signs that they should back off.
These signs are usually to show dominance and intimidate. They will beat their chests to show their strength. If this doesn’t work, they will usually charge. Standing and having a silverback charge you is one of the most frightening experiences a human can have. Here, the most recommended thing is to show submission. You can always stand your ground and not budge, but if the gorilla takes this as defiance and attacks you, you would have no chance.
The man in the next video loves gorillas. He has gone to a zoo and has some pictures of gorillas in his cellphone. He decides to show the pictures to a silverback gorilla that approaches him. They are still separated by very thick glass, so there’s no chance of an actual attack When the man sits down to show him the pictures, the gorilla has the most awesome response to this. Just watch!
