Zoos’ new dilemma: Gorillas and screen time
SAN DIEGO—The four hulking male gorillas roamed their zoo enclosure, sitting pensively on rocks overlooking a waterfall and climbing a wooden structure. Suddenly, an 18-year-old western lowland gorilla named Ekuba bounded up to the glass. The 380-pound animal looked expectantly at a man wearing a shirt bearing the gorilla’s image as he pulled out his phone.
Ekuba stood on all fours and began watching videos—of himself and other gorillas. “He really is watching! I wonder what he’s thinking," said Cecilia Lee, a visitor from Orange County. “Anything that brings us together is fascinating." Ekuba isn’t the only gorilla enthralled with devices.
Across North America, zoos have grappled with, and sometimes embraced, primates taking an interest in screen time. In Louisville, Ky., a 27-year-old gorilla named Jelani has been enamored with phones for years, flicking his finger or tapping the glass when he’s ready for a visitor to swipe to the next shot. At the Toronto Zoo, keepers have hung signs to dissuade showing screens to gorillas, citing disruption to their family dynamic.
The interactions speak to man’s age-old attraction to gorillas, which share 98% of our DNA, and a desire to connect with them. “They are a window to ourselves, they really are," said Ron Evans, general curator at the Louisville Zoo. “Except for their superhuman strength." Evans said Jelani’s phone-watching hasn’t been a detriment to the otherwise quiet life he leads with his troop-mate, Bengati, so they’ve allowed it in moderation.
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