Most Elusive Gorilla Caught on Video

[n2doc]

By LiveScience Staff
posted: 16 December 2009 03:12 pm ET

The world's rarest and most camera shy great ape has come out of hiding on a forested mountain in Cameroon, where scientists have captured video and photos of the primate.

The minutes-worth of footage marks the first professional video of the animal, revealing two such Cross River gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) snacking on figs about 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) above the forest floor. While the video may not be crystal clear, scientists are ecstatic to capture even blurry footage of these hairy actors.

"These gorillas are extremely wary of humans and are very difficult to photograph or film," said Roger Fotso, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Cameroon Program. "Eventually, we identified and staked out some of the gorillas' favorite fig trees, which is where we finally achieved our goal."

The only previous footage of the Cross River gorilla (one of two subspecies of western gorilla) was taken from a long distance with a shaky, hand-held camera in 2005.

http://www.livescience.com/animals/091216-shy-ape-photo.html

[Orrex]

1. I can't imagine why they wouldn't trust humans.

Very cool!

[niyad]

2. k and r