Gorillas always draw a crowd at any zoo or wildlife park. They’re interesting in their own right, but people may also be fascinated because these creatures seem so much like ourselves. Indeed, we and gorillas have about 95% of our DNA in common. There’s one gorilla who has taken this to a new level by learning to stand on his own two feet and walk!
Normal gorillas move along on all fours, although with their legs doing most of the work. And then there’s Ambam. He’s a silverback who lives at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, England. Ambam began standing upright and once he mastered the art of balancing on two feet, he began walking! Given that he’s 6 feet tall and weighs over 450 pounds, he’s an impressive sight to behold.
While Ambam’s amazing ability to walk like a person almost surely doesn’t represent sudden evolutionary progress, it does seem to run in the family. As gorilla keeper Phil Ridges explained, “Ambam’s father Bitam used to display the same behavior if he had handfuls of food to carry. Ambam also has a full sister, Tamba, and a half sister who also sometimes stand and walk in the same way. All gorillas can do it to some extent but we haven’t got any who do it like Ambam and he is quite a celebrity at the park. We think he might use it to get a height advantage to look over the wall when keepers come to feed him and standing up can also help him in looking for food generally in his enclosure as it gives him a better vantage point. Ambam can also carry a lot more food if he stands and uses both hands and walking on two feet also means he doesn’t get his hands wet when it is raining.”
Check out the video and let us know what you think about this amazing walking gorilla in the comments section below. Be sure to like and share, too!
