This is the first gorilla I’ve ever featured here. He’s one of the bachelors in Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
DAK is home to quite a few western lowland gorillas, a critically endangered species. Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, in the Pangani Forest, is divided into two habitats: one for a family troop with a silverback male, adult females, and their offspring, and one for a bachelor group. This is one of the latter.
In the wild, male gorillas like this one typically leave their family troop once they mature, at around 8-12 years old. Once they’ve left they might live alone, or they might join a loosely bonded group like this one to have a social outlet as they continue to grow up. The group living here lives peacefully together, with room to grow and no need yet to compete for dominance or mates. Disney’s team monitors them closely to make sure everyone gets along and has plenty of space. It’s a really well executed imitation of what they’d experience in the wild.
You can see another gorilla off to the left a bit. It’s so interesting to watch them coexist in this section of the forest.
Shot at 400mm, 1/200 seconds, f/6.3, ISO 1600.