Gorilla’s Mate V-V!

Wild Gorillas in ‘Face-to-Face’ Copulation

Caption: Taken by researchers for the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, this image is one of a series showing western gorillas mating ‘face-to-face’ in Mbeli Bai in the Republic of Congo. These images are the first capturing such behavior in wild gorillas.

Credit: © Thomas Breuer – WCS/MPI-EVA

Usage Restrictions: The image is for one-time usage only with this story. Please use with the photo credit.

Related news release: Study garners unique mating photos of wild gorillas

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Public release date: 12-Feb-2008
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Contact: John Delaney
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Wildlife Conservation Society

Study garners unique mating photos of wild gorillas

‘Face-to-face’ a first for endangered apes

Taken by researchers for the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, this image is one of a series showing western gorillas mating ‘face-to-face’ in Mbeli… Click here for more information.

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have released the first known photographs of gorillas performing face-to-face copulation in the wild. This is the first time that western gorillas have been observed and photographed mating in such a manner.

The photographs were part of a study conducted in a forest clearing in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo that appeared in a recent issue of The Gorilla Gazette.

“Understanding the behavior of our cousins the great apes sheds light on the evolution of behavioral traits in our own species and our ancestors,” said Thomas Breuer, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and WCS and lead author of the study. “It is also interesting that this same adult female has been noted for innovative behaviors before.”

The western lowland gorilla is listed as Critically Endangered as a result of hunting by humans, habitat destruction, and health threats such as the Ebola virus.

The female gorilla in the photograph, nicknamed “Leah” by researchers, made history in 2005 when she was observed using tools – another never-before-seen behavior for her kind in the wild. Breuer and others witnessed Leah using a stick to test the depth of a pool of water before wading into it in Mbeli Bai, where researchers have been monitoring the gorilla population since 1995.

Researchers say that few primates mate in a face-to-face position, known technically as ventro-ventral copulation; most primate species copulate in what’s known as the dorso-ventral position, with both animals facing in the same direction. Besides humans, only bonobos have been known to frequently employ ventro-ventral mating positions. On a few occasions, mountain gorillas have been observed in ventro-ventral positions, but never photographed. Western gorillas in captivity have been known to mate face-to-face, but not in the wild, which makes this observation a noteworthy first.

“Our current knowledge of wild western gorillas is very limited, and this report provides information on various aspects of their sexual behavior,” added Breuer, whose study is funded by the Brevard Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Max Planck Society, Sea World & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, Toronto Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society and Woodland Park Zoo. “We can’t say how common this manner of mating is, but it has never been observed with western gorillas in the forest. It is fascinating to see similarities between gorilla and human sexual behavior demonstrated by our observation.”

Scientists estimate that western gorillas have declined 60 percent in recent years due to habitat loss, illegal hunting, and Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which is the only organization working to protect all four gorilla sub-species (also including the Cross River Gorilla, the mountain gorilla, and the Grauer’s gorilla), has been studying gorillas and other wildlife in the Republic of Congo since the 1980s. In 1993, the Congolese Government, working in tandem with technical assistance from WCS, established Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild lands. We do so through careful science, international conservation, education, and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together, these activities change individual attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in sustainable interaction on both a local and a global scale. The WCS is committed to this work because we believe it essential to the integrity of life on Earth.

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Conservation Cognitive Science

Please take a moment and examine your setting. Notice the things, perhaps on your wall or on your desk, or even the materials of your structure. Notice the environment that has been built by our fellow men and women, notice our interactions with these things, and the rules by which we interact with things. Imagine the tools that built the tools, that built these things; the departments through which each thing may have passed before arriving in your setting. Notice the expertise with which you use these things. The forces of humanity are strong and spectacular. Together, we have built a world that makes us intelligent, a culture that guides our interactions, and a consciousness that allows us to examine these forces.

For ten months I worked on an observational study of bonobos (Pan paniscus) at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I became immersed in their complex social interactions, in the ways they attended to one another and the ways they communicated with one another. These behaviors were so reminiscent of human behavior, it became a very difficult task to discern the two. But then, one day, as I sat on a friend’s sofa, I noticed the thing upon which I sat, and the television on which they played games with controllers on wires with buttons they knew how to push; and the music in the background. I noticed the structure in which I sat, the carpets on the floors, the windows on the walls, the sink where dishes were placed to be later put in the dish washing machine – and I saw the difference in these things. But I also saw a male coalition, a game of strategy and coordination, displays, and communication.

These things that make us human are the often very things that jade our decisions, to the extent that we forget the power of our consciousness. We often assume superiority without examining the truth of this arrogance. It infiltrates the manner in which we conduct our government affairs, and can be seen in much of science where the question became “how human are they?” rather than “what complexities are at hand?”

In the year 2008 and the years to follow; we have a global problem to address and a tremendous opportunity to change the consciousness with which we interact with our world. The awareness of global warming has already begun to make these changes. Words like “eco-friendly”, “recycle”, “fair trade”, “carbon footprint”, and “organic” have infiltrated our households and have sparked a change in people to become aware of their co-existent state.

I am a conservation cognitive scientist. I strongly believe in the power of knowledge, and that knowledge can lead to co-existence. I run observational studies on beluga whales at SeaWorld in San Diego because I believe in the power of these studies to teach us about the social complexity of this intelligent cetacean species. The belugas are a widespread circumpolar species whose livelihood is in endangered by the realities of new shipping routes, fishing grounds, and oil fields, that will become available as the polar ice cap continues to melt. I believe that if we act now to document the complexities of beluga societies, we can use that knowledge to help educate an increasingly receptive human audience and create a global consciousness that will help to change the way we interact with our world.

This is My Brain