Are gorillas clean animals?

Are gorillas clean animals?

Daniel Simmonds (Zookeeper) gives expert video advice on: How similar are gorillas to humans?; How heavy are gorillas?; How strong are gorillas? and more...

Gorillas are fairly clean. They're certainly quite smelly, and if you get up close to a gorilla you'll certainly know it. Gorillas have got quite a pungent smell. But in terms of personal hygiene, they certainly don't wash themselves. Although, having said that, what we have seen in captivity here at London Zoo, is that the gorillas will sometimes actually wash their faces and their armpits on a very hot day with water. They have a waterfall on their island, and the gorillas will use that water. So there is an element of hygiene there, but that's not done every day by them.