Since the mid-1800s, gorillas have been portrayed in many books and movies as ferocious killers. One of the first films of wild gorillas showed a huge animal, charging straight at the camera with teeth bared, but no one knew then that the gorilla was only bluffing! It wasn't until the 1950s--when George B. Schaller first studied gorillas in the wild--that we began to understand that these large animals are really gentle. Like me, Dr. Schaller is a WCS scientist. He was one of the first scientists to carefully watch and record how gorillas live, why they do certain things, and what they need in their environment to survive.

Many scientists and I use a tool called an ethogram to record gorilla behavior. Now you can watch gorillas, record the gorilla behavior you see, and chart it on your own ethogram. Then, you can compare your results with ours! Like many skills, you can become a better observer with practice.