In the wild the giant Gorilla typically live in packs that consist of one dominant male with multiple females and babies. This is how the family at Taronga Zoo Sydney live.
The male of this family is massive, and must weigh close to 300kgs. Then there is a Mum with a gorgeous 8 month old baby that clings to her, and is only just starting to explore the ground by herself. My favourite was one little guy who strolled around on his back legs like a three year old.
You can almost see the King Gorilla’s thoughts from his facial expressions. The images below are from one series of shots that Mark managed to capture.
Big G: What are you two talking about?
As Mark and I joke and talk to Big G asking him questions how he manages with all his lady friends and kids. Yes, I always talk to animals, even at the zoo where everyone thinks I’m crazy.
Big Gorilla thinking about what the humans are saying.
Big Gorilla coming to realisation as he figures out what the humans are talking about.
Big G laughing at the humans.
We’re pretty sure he said “yep, I’m the man”.
Then there’s the younger guys who after running around trying to beat each other to the prized watermelon, just want to chill out.
I’m going to put a picture of a chimpanzee just chilling out here. There have been so many times at the zoo that my daughters have corrected people who got gorillas and chimpanzees confused. So, hopefully this picture of a chimpanzee helps you tell the difference. Oh, of course I know you already knew.
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