Man and Gorilla bond over images on his smartphone

It seems like Humans aren’t the only ones who are fascinated by smartphone technology. But rest assured we’re not the only ones who find the phones fascinating!

Screenshot from the video

A video of a zoo-goer entrancing a gorilla with pictures of other gorillas on his phone is going viral. When the young man showed his phone to a western lowland gorilla from Kentucky's Louisville Zoo, the great ape couldn't take his eyes off it.

Jelani, a silverback gorilla, likes to look at photos on visitor’s phones. The gorilla even sat down and settled in on the opposite side of the glass as the visitor continued to scroll through photos.

The ape nearly reads over his shoulder as the man scrolls through even more pictures,  occasionally tilting the phone so the gorilla can have a better look. The zoo visitor continues to scroll through photos of other gorillas from the same habitat as Jelani. Clearly captivated by what he saw.

Video editor Paul Ross witnessed this ape in action during a recent visit to the zoo, looking at photos of other gorillas on a young man’s smartphone and even motioning him to keep scrolling.

Screenshot from the video

“I stumbled upon the boy sharing pictures with Jelani touring the zoo with my one-year-old daughter,” Ross said. “The boy was scrolling through gorilla pictures, and Jelani would motion with his hand to move to the next photo.” Encounters like these make you feel a little sad that such an intelligent creature is in a zoo!\

While the scene seemed to surprise onlookers, Jelani's interest in the device comes as no shock to zookeepers. On the Louisville Zoo's website, Jelani's description includes a nod to his tech interest. "He is a laid-back individual and likes to look at cell phone photos and videos," his brief bio reads.

The science community has long believed that gorillas exhibit a lot of extremely human behaviors. Not only can these great apes communicate through sign language, create paintings, and laugh, but it turns out they’re also addicted to smartphones. 

The gorilla is not only quick to understand what’s going on and eager to see what’s on the phone. But when he’s done looking at each image, he prompts the young man to scroll to the next one.

Watch video here:

Thank you so much for dropping by and reading this article. Visit our website regularly for more interesting and trending news and stories.

If you enjoyed this post, please share this with your friends and if you have any comment, please write below. Thanks!