How Do Gorillas Defend Themselves?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Gary Wilson at America's Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College. Gorillas defend themselves not by throwing rocks like these Capuchin monkeys, but by being so big. Gorillas are the largest primates, getting up to six hundred pounds in the case of a big silverback male. So, there aren't many animals that would want to take on a big gorilla. The big male, the silverback, of course is much bigger than the females in the group, so his job is to protect the groups somewhat. So, if they become aware of a predator like a leopard, the male will charge at it, grabbing vegetation, making a lot of noise to drive that leopard away. But the most important way that gorillas defend themselves is by being a family, by staying close together. By being in a group, they can all take turns watching for any threats that are around them, and they're more likely to detect a predator. And once the predator, like a leopard, knows its been seen, it knows that its chances of being successful at catching something is very poor, so it leaves the gorillas alone."