No Ulterior Motive

WARNING: THERE IS NOTHING OFFENSIVE, GRAPHIC OR REPULSIVE IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE OR VIDEOS…

” HELP ME ! I’M A LOWLAND GORILLA INCARCERATED IN THIS ZOO. ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO GET ME MORE SPACE WILL BE APPRECIATED ! “

Except for a visit to a zoo, when was the last time you had a close encounter with a gorilla? I know, that’s a silly question, but I couldn’t resist asking…  

Please remember, the gorillas in these videos are really wild and what you see has not been staged or rehearsed. These gorillas are not drugged or sedated in any way. These gorillas are 100% alert and real. The gorillas in these videos are habituated (accustom) to humans and will allow people to carefully (respectfully) approach. Some gorilla families are not accustom to seeing people; when anyone approaches them, they will  promptly flee.

You may already know, but there are 2 kinds of gorillas; the lowland gorilla (the gorilla you see when you go to a zoo) and the highland gorilla, also called a mountain gorilla. Mountain gorillas live in the mountains of Uganda, Rwanda and Zaire (Africa), high in the Viruge Volcano range, and are slightly larger than the lowland gorillas. A silverback (male) mountain gorilla has long black hair, except for its silver-haired back, and weighs around 485 lbs. Diane Fossey made mountain gorillas famous through her many years of in person field studies and her book, GORILLAS IN THE MIST, which became a major movie starring Sigourney Weaver and Bryan Brown. A silverback (male) lowland gorilla has short brown or gray hair, except for its silver-haired back, and weighs around 220 lbs., up to around 400 lbs., depending on which habitat it’s from. It lives in the eastern and western lowland tropical forests of Africa, this includes Cameron, Zaire, Congo, Gabon and Nigeria. The females of both types are solid black, gray or brown, depending on whether they are a mountain or lowland gorilla, and they are much smaller than their silverbacks. Each silverback is the head of his gorilla family; the guy in charge, their protector, the one that keeps everyone else in line. He’s the big one with the silver hair on his back. You can’t miss him.

These videos are too awesome not to pass on. If you already had the good fortune to experience these videos, watch’m anyway. They are still as exciting as ever. May I suggest, use the “full screen” feature, and turn the volume up so you can hear the silverback’s belch vocalizations and other background conversation and sounds. 

The following video is a tribute to Dian Fossey; she negated the myth of the vicious, rampaging Hollywood 800 lb. gorilla  jokes. This video is from the documentary “FINAL DAYS OF DIAN FOSSEY” (2005). As you’ll see, there are no 800 lb. charging gorillas. Also, the music is fantastic.

You’ll see in this next video people having awesome and exhilarating experiences during their very close encounter with a family of mountain gorillas. It’s worth repeating, the silverback in this video is the head of his family; the guy in charge, the one that keeps everyone else in line. He’s the big one with the silver hair on his back. You can’t miss him. You’ll see, even when the silverback “attacks”, it’s not really an attack. It’s more like the silverback saying to the people, “You guys are getting on my nerves. I’m going to have a little fun with you guys, so you’ll leave us alone.” The silverback could have easily grabbed this individual’s ankle, but he didn’t; he simply grabbed the cloth covering the ankle. Of course, when a silverback attacks another silverback encroaching on his territory and family, the attack will be a “no joking around” attack. A close encounter with a mountain gorilla family is definitely on my bucket list. All I need to do is mind my manners and act submissive, which will be real easy to do. So, if the Good Lord sees fit, I’ll make this close encounter happen someday.

Is there something for us to learn from witnessing families of wild mountain gorillas, Dian Fossey and other individuals all getting along? I think there is. It’s something to think about. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the magnificence of God’s creation.