Are Gorillas Dangerous? - Learn Gorilla Behaviors

Gorillas are apes that share more than 90% DNA with humans. Gorillas have human sense and behaviours and it is also true that they are extremely strong and powerful animals that can be dangerous if they feel or receive threatened behaviours. The males which are silverback in particular said to be stronger than 20 men incredibly and their long canine teeth can cause serious injuries.

Gorillas are generally known as calm animals but they can charge in certain situations. It is always important to avoid confrontation when with this gentle giants, though they share DNA with humans but the fact remains that they are wild animals that should be treated with caution and respect.

In most cases, males tend to be very aggressive when they feel like their group members or their group is under threat – while humans take threats lightly, gorillas takes any threat serious even if it’s just a perceived threat.

That’s why habituation of these animals is always carried out, the gorillas are slowly habituated to people before allowing visitors to interact with them. If not, the silverback who is also a group leader could become startled and launches an attack. So, all in all, it’s best to err on the side of caution when dealing with gorillas and take things slow.

Can Habituated Gorillas Become Dangerous?

Regardless of lowland or mountain Gorillas, generally gorillas are perhaps one of the most misunderstood wild animals on earth. Though they are sometimes considered as dangerous and aggressive apes, the real fact is that gorillas are gentle giants. They are always shy and retiring by nature, gorillas usually tend to become aggressive when they are threatened in most cases. The truth is that wild gorillas are not as dangerous as they are always portrayed. There are three African countries with a large number of gorilla populations, these are Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo, all offer gorilla-habituated experiences for travellers.

How to Avoid Gorilla Attacks?

Although gorillas are known as gentle giant animals, they are still dangerous wild animals. To avoid the gorilla being charged at you, stop direct eye contact, direct eye contact is a threat to the head of the family which is silverback mountain gorilla as they will make them think that you are an enemy to their family. It’s also important to stop taking pictures using flash screens. It’s important to back off if the gorilla starts beating its chest