Video circulating on social media shows the moment a gorilla ran toward the wall of its enclosure at a zoo in California and cracked the glass.
Citing zoo officials’ The New York Post said the culprit was Denny, a 10-year-old western lowland gorilla, at San Diego Zoo. The media outlet said Denny shattered “one layer of a three-layered tempered glass panel” in the zoo’s gorilla forest habitat on Saturday.
In the footage, guests step back and gasp as the animal crashes into the glass. Photos also show the damage, with a crack splintering across the glass.
It is common for male gorillas, especially in adolescence, to express these types of behaviors,” a spokesperson for the San Diego Zoo told The New York Post. “Bursts of energy, charging, dragging items, or running sideways are all natural for a young male.”
The media outlet also noted that Denny was not hurt, adding that “he and the other gorilla living in the enclosure will be cared for while the panel is replaced.”
Until recently, Denny lived with his siblings, including his brother, Maka. But Maka died in August after he experienced an unexpected cardiac event, the zoo previously announced on social media.
“Maka was truly the heart of our bachelor troop. He guided his younger brothers, Ekuba and Denny, with patience and steadiness, a small-but-mighty leader who naturally took on the role of mentor and earned their respect and devotion,” the zoo wrote on Facebook this summer. “His brothers were given the opportunity to spend time with Maka after his passing — a poignant moment that reminded us once again that connection and loss are universal languages we all share.”
National Geographic on its website said western lowland gorillas are the smallest of the four gorilla subspecies, which also include the Cross River gorillas, Grauer’s gorillas, and mountain gorillas.
The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) noted online that the animals are critically endangered.
“Because of poaching and disease, the gorilla’s numbers have declined by more than 60% over the last 20 to 25 years,” according to the WWF. “Even if all of the threats to western lowland gorillas were removed, scientists calculate that the population would require some 75 years to recover.”