Amazing Video Shows Close Encounter With Wild Gorilla Beating Chest

The closest most people will come to see a gorilla beating its chest is while playing Mario Kart or watching King Kong movies. But the sound in real life is markedly different, as evidenced by a viral TikTok video of a male silverback in the wild, during a tour in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.

The video was captured by private safari tour guide Richard De Gouveia, who writes that a passing storm with torrential downpours initially sent the gorillas, known as the Kwisanga family of mountain gorillas, into shelter. When the rain finally passed, the gorillas started to come out of hiding and the males began beating their chests to stay warm.

"While watching another gorilla, the silverback came marching in from behind us and put on a show that won’t be forgotten in a hurry by our cool, calm and collected guest who handled the moment perfectly," De Gouveia writes. "She then moved out to make sure we kept a safe distance from the gorillas."

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"Ever see a gorilla beat its chest?" asks a caption overlaying the clip. The gorilla then begins to make a sort of whining noise as it inflates its air sacs, before charging alongside one of the tourists in the group and beating its chest. And while it sounds like more of a drumming sound than a beating, for most of us it would probably still be a bit close for comfort.

Gorillas beat their chests for a number of reasons, but the most common are to show how big their body is, assess the fighting ability of rivals, and attract mates, according to 2021 research. Likewise, a study conducted in 2017 found that gorillas use their laryngeal air sacs to produce four different types of vocalizations—"display growling, the simple whinny, sex whinny, and copulation grunts."

De Gouveia says that in theory, his tour groups try to maintain a distance from wildlife, but that in reality it doesn’t always work out this way. "Masks help us minimize any passing on of our diseases to them and distance is maintained as best as possible," he explains, adding that they are also limited to one hour with the family.