Gorilla caught on camera having fun aping around in the winter rain

An energetic gorilla at Werribee Open Range Zoo has challenged the belief that his species dislikes the rain – and he made quite a splash doing it.

The 25-year-old silverback*, Ganyeka (pronounced: Gan-YEAH-ka), was caught on discreetly placed keeper cameras aping around in the wet weather.

Werribee Open Range Zoo African River Trail Keeper Kristina Sleeth said Ganyeka was enjoying the start to winter.

“We see him rolling around on his back, rubbing the water in his hair and getting it down his shoulders,” Ms Sleeth said. “We know he’s really enjoying it when his toes are curled up in the air too.

She said while viral* videos often show gorillas avoiding the rain with dramatic reactions, their behaviour is not one-size-fits-all – some do shy away, while Ganyeka seems to rejoice in it.

“Ganyeka enjoys the rain, and we think that when the grass is really wet and damp that the cool water must feel really nice on his back and arms,” she said.

“Meantime, his brother Yakini (pronounced: Ya-KEY-nee), will be the first gorilla to run under a shelter when it rains to hide away.”

Ms Sleeth said Ganyeka only seemed to indulge in his rainy day revelry* when no one was watching.

“When the other gorillas are huddled away in sheltered areas, it’s an opportunity for Ganyeka to have the habitat* all to himself. It’s just like if you were home alone and you could do whatever you wanted – it’s exciting and he can really just let loose,” she said.

She said it reflected his playful nature.

“Ganyeka has that ‘little brother’ energy and has a really funny personality. He likes to annoy his brother by waking him up, stealing his food, and pounding on structures in the habitat to get a reaction out of him,” she said.

“But he is also very sweet, sensitive, gentle, smart and curious. He keeps us on our toes all the time.”

Werribee Open Range Zoo is home to three critically endangered Western lowland gorillas. The species is native to Africa and impacted by illegal poaching*, disease, and habitat destruction from climate change, logging and mining for coltan* – a mineral used to make mobile phones.

Zoos Victoria’s They’re Calling On You initiative encourages the public to donate unwanted mobile phones that can be recycled to raise funds for wild gorilla care and conservation. Visitors to Werribee Open Range Zoo can drop off their old mobile phones into the specially marked collection bins located inside the zoo.

Ganyeka and the gorilla troop can be seen at Werribee Open Range Zoo’s African River Trail.

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GLOSSARY

• silverback: an older dominant adult male gorilla with grey or whitish hair on its back
• viral: a video that has been viewed and shared online thousands of times
• revelry: having fun
• habitat: the zoo enclosure where the animals are kept, made to mimic the animals’ natural home in the wild
• illegal poaching: the illegal capture of wild animals
• coltan: an ore that the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted from. These metals are used in smartphones, computers and other electronics. The mining of coltan is also associated with human rights violations including child labour and exploitation of the population by militant groups

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QUICK QUIZ
1. What does Ganyeka do when it rains?
2. How is this different from the way his brother behaves in wet weather?
3. How are Western lowland gorillas being impacted in the wild?
4. In what way can recycling mobile phones help gorillas?
5. How many Western lowland gorillas live at Werribee Open Range Zoo?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Ganyeka trading card
Let’s imagine that Werribee Open Range Zoo is planning to bring out a trading card collection, featuring some of their most popular animals. You have been chosen as chief card designer! Create a design for Ganyeka’s trading card. One side of the card should feature a picture of Ganyeka and the other side should feature interesting facts about him.

Draw/write by hand or use technology for this task. You may wish to create your design in a larger format than a normal trading card and then reduce it, to make the process easier.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Visual Arts; ICT Capability

2. Extension
Use the Search function on the Kids News website to search for Werribee Open Range Zoo. You will find other great stories about animals that live there. Choose some of these animals and create additional trading cards for the collection.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Visual Arts; ICT Capability

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.