Gorilla Charges And Break Glass Window At Zoo After Little Girl Beats Chest

A playful young girl beat her chest in the presence of a silverback gorilla at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. Seconds later, the gorilla aggressively reacts, attempted to break into the window, and cracked the glass inclusion. The scare tactic efficiently did as planned, terrifying everyone in the vicinity away.

Nevertheless, what the footage emphasizes more than whatsoever is how different procedures of communication among animals can go twisted—and how it can get us into an unlikely situation when they are counter-intuitive to what we suppose. What may be friendly to us, may actually be hostile to them. 

Body language is a dominant tool, especially when communicating (on purpose or accidentally) with a different animal. As an example, eye contact and chest-beating establishes supremacy among gorillas, but displaying your pearly whites can get a bit trickier. If you smile without presenting teeth, you could be showing playful behavior. "[During play, gorillas] conceal their teeth and open their mouths as if to suggest, 'I could bite you but I'm not going to,’” scientist Bridget Waller articulated BBC Nature.

Conversely, the teeth bared in a grin may essentially be a form of obedience or pacification. "It's a greeting; a inferior display,” said Waller. In Africa, western lowland gorillas have additional smile that is a mix between the two—their top teeth are exposed, but the bottom ones are not. It's possible this keeps play by decreasing any hesitation during long bouts of good-natured combat. 

“Several primate species also show their teeth when they squeal,” Waller told Wired. “These languages tend to look different to the lingoes I studied in gorillas, as the upper and lower teeth are both uncovered, and the mouth widely open.” These expressions are often more anxious, vocal and indicate aggression.

For Kijito—the 375-pound male gorilla—it may have just been a matter of diverse signals. What the girl found humorous, the gorilla deemed hostile. Officials at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo said that no one was at risk, even when the pane of glass fractured.