How important is body language when looking after gorillas?

How important is body language when looking after gorillas?

Daniel Simmonds (Zookeeper) gives expert video advice on: Do the gorillas trust you?; Do you trust the gorillas?; How can you tell gorillas apart? and more...

Body language when you are working with a gorilla is really, really important. First of all, its key never to look a gorilla directly in the face, because in gorilla terms that's considered a threat. So it's always important never to look straight at them. Obviously we look towards the gorillas, but it's the actual direct eye contact bodylanguage that we'll always avoid. We also, as zoo keepers, fully respect the gorillas as wild animals. They are big, potentially dangerous animals, so we feel it's important to almost act in a submissive way in terms of body language toward the gorillas. Because if you are working with a big silver back gorilla, it's his territory, he's the big man, and it's important that we respect that. Just as, if you were to come across the gorillas in the wild you would act submissively with your body language. So we think it's also really important to do that here, at ZSL London Zoo, where we have the gorillas in captivity.