John J. King II traveled to Uganda in 2011 hoping to spot a mountain gorilla in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is home to around 320 endangered apes, half of the world's gorilla population. There, King observed a family of gorillas in the rain forest. He watched how the little ones played and how their mother nursed them. He shared his remarkable experience on his blog, which unexpectedly turned into an amazing gorilla encounter when the they visited him in his camp the next morning.
It seems that gorillas are fascinated by humans too since they traveled three hours to get to the camp. The gorillas were guided and watched by their father, especially when the little ones started to give King special treatment.
In the video, he is crouched down with his camera while the wild youngsters groomed him and even climbed all over him as the father gorilla watched keenly. King noted that although gorillas are accustomed to humans and are nonaggressive, direct encounters with adults like what he went through are very rare.
There are staged encounters, but what he experienced was organic and truly special. When the family left, he even excitedly mouthed at the camera, "I'm a gorilla!"
"It just happened in a very natural way," said King in the video. "There was no staging or choreographing. It was an innocent interaction with wild gorillas, and it was absolutely thrilling."
