A video that is viral on social media right now shows the moment a gorilla charging towards tourists while beating his chest, forcing them to flee.
In the video, the terrified tourists took a swift evasive action, leaving the gorilla on his own in the forest.
It is still unclear where the video was taken or which type of gorilla it was, but one thing is sure, the gorilla was pretty angry.
Experts who watched the video believe that the primate is a male mountain gorilla, which is also known as a silverback gorilla.
They are usually found in the Virunga Mountains, a range that is along the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda in Africa.
But why do gorillas beat their chest?
Scientists believe gorillas use these chest beats as a nonvocal communication to both attract females and intimidate potential rivals. With both acoustic and visual elements, this long-distance signal is most commonly performed by adult males (silverbacks) and can be heard more than 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) away.
Edward Wright from Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany told National Geographic:
It is an extremely impressive display. It can be a bit frightening. You don’t want to get in the way.
Scientists also believe that gorillas beat their chest to send a signal that lets potential mates or rivals to judge their size without even seeing them.
