Silverback Gorilla turns cameraman at Durrell

This week one of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's most photographed primates turned the tables and became cameraman for the day.

Ya Kwanza the conservation Trusts 27 year old silverback gorilla became adept at snapping close ups of himself with a high definition camera which was encased in an indestructible box and covered with tasty honey and oats.

The fabulous footage shows the silverback investigating the device and meticulously picking out raisins with a surprisingly delicate touch, he then turns cameraman and takes a number of close ups and profile shots before peeling off the branding on the case, after realizing this didn't taste as good as the original flavoursome coating the inquisitive ape then happily returns the box to his keeper who was waiting on the outside of the enclosure.




The idea came from one of the Jersey based charity's mammal keepers - Jon Stark, who having taken care of the critically endangered western lowland gorillas for four years wondered what it would be like to take a look at life from the primate's perspective. Commenting on the plan Stark said "The animals here at the wildlife park regularly receive enrichment treats which encourage them to forage for food much as they would in the wild and help to keep them mentally stimulated. In an attempt to really get up close and personal we decided to install a HD Camera in Ya Kwanza's daily 'enrichment device!"

• Category

  Pets & Animals

[jking21701]

This really rustled his jimmies.

[DURRELLvideos]

Ya Kwanza's learnt that if the keepers point to an object (e.g. a brush that a keeper accidentally left in) and offer him a walnut, he will get that reward for throwing us the object. This offers two way benefits. It was using our knowledge of this learned behaviour that made us confident that Ya Kwanza would assist us in retrieving the camera, he certainly wasn't trained specifically to perform this.

[SnoocheeBoochees]

how come the shot at 0:40 is randomly not widescreen? Was that shot from a different camera?

[DURRELLvideos]

All of his footage was captured at this ratio and was kept at this point to try and get the whole shot of his face on screen. But the rest was cropped to the same ratio as the wide shots.

[Rixxer Migical]

Someone's been teaching that Gorilla how to throw that thing.. I DON'T LIKE IT >>

[DURRELLvideos]

I can assure you this is the first time this camera / box had ever been used. We really didn't expect him to throw it back but we're delighted when he did. Our keepers have a very strong bond with these animals - they have worked with them for many years, know their personalities, can read their moods and know how they react around food. Jon had some food visible in his hand, used a tone of voice they are used to at feeding time and Yukky knew the box was empty so worked it out.

[PivotWithBiscuitz]

He throws boxes.. Like a boss.

[AustraliaOceanSurfer]

DEATH TO ALL POACHERS AKA MURDERERS OF GORILLAS!!!!

[Alpito123]

He looks like 50 cent! lol

[MrXhugsOkisses]

So smart. Hahaha.

[awesome00714]

He's smart

[James Cook]

HE IS SOOO FUCKING CUTEEE! :D

[DURRELLvideos]

The Gorilla enclosure at Durrell is far larger than the video reveals. Our former Head of Mammals Richard Johnstone-Scott is a world authority on gorillas in captivity, and their happiness and husbandry are our first priorities. Thank you for the concern though, it's great that people care, and in places where comments such as this need to be made, the more people speak up the better! Please do continue to air such concerns.

[Nathanyal Godlewski]

That gorilla is like a human and it listens LOL

[Jimkid118]

holy crap, he through that box like it was a toy

[smcneal057]

I got the same impression too.

[cclapsus]

JON STARK, THE KING IN THE NORTH!