YouTuber Xavier HUBERT-BRIERRE writes “In June 2013 gorillas from the Nyonié region in Gabon were filmed as they first discovered a large mirror (250 x 122cm) in their forest.
They displayed reactions of fear, face to face with their congeners in the mirror’s rectangular frame. Staring back at them in the mirror, each gorilla saw the members of their family by their side as well as a completely unknown stranger, (their own image).
Their reactions also showed incomprehension, why when reaching out their hand to touch this stranger (their image) their fingers met with a cold, flat, impenetrable surface? Why weren’t their counterparts they saw in the mirror found behind it? Why did this stranger (their reflection) copy their every movement and gesture? Three years later, the young children, mothers and their baby no longer pass impromptu in front of the mirror, but rather in a calculated manner. They go “to the mirror” the way humans go to the movies.
As their hands explore the mirror’s surface their fingers are no longer tempted to try to pass through it. Their lips and mouth stick to the mirror’s surface.
Some young gorillas give us the impression that they have understood the properties of the mirror as they admire themselves beating their chest with their two hands as their father would do to ward off an aggressor. Or perhaps their self recognition in the mirror is not as advanced as their behaviour suggests. In young gorillas the act of beating one’s chest with one’s hands can be an invitation to play (Dr. Liz Williamson, Great Ape Section Coordinator of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group). Spin move also seems to be an invitation to play. In front of the mirror, certain young gorillas behave as a very young human would during their mirror training: They believe that their own image is a friend who is copying their every move.
Some seem to use the mirror’s properties to explore their anus, a part of their body they are unable to see without its help. The silverback has calmed the displays of aggressions he performed in an attempt to get rid of this intruder (his image) who encroached on his domain. He observes his females and descendants attentively and non aggressively who are glued to the mirror. His gaze passes furtively over his image, but only stops for a brief second.”
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