Eye contact can be intense—but lock eyes with a gorilla, and you might be asking for trouble. That’s exactly what happened at the Rotterdam Zoo, where gorillas were getting agitated by staring contests with visitors. The solution? Gorilla Glasses—cardboard glasses with fake eyes to trick the gorillas into thinking you weren’t challenging them to a 400-pound showdown.
In this episode, Gordy dives into the science of primate behavior, the wild story of Bokito, the gorilla who leapt a moat after misreading a human’s intentions, and why direct eye contact is a no-go with these powerful primates. Plus, how one simple optical illusion helps prevent gorilla-human misunderstandings.
So there you have it—if you ever visit a zoo, remember: staring at a gorilla is like starting a bar fight you can’t win.
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Sources:
Kutsukake, N. (2006). The context and quality of social relationships affect vigilance behavior in wild chimpanzees. Ethology, 112(6), 581-591.
Ross, S. R., et al. (2009). Zoo visitor behavior influences gorilla behavior. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 120(1-2), 157-164.
De Waal, F. B. M. (2007). Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved. Princeton University Press.
