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Attenborough's Extraordinary Gorill… — BBC Earth shadowing | TryShadowing
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Attenborough's Extraordinary Gorilla Encounter | Making Life on Earth | BBC Earth
Attenborough's Extraordinary Gorilla Encounter | Making Life on Earth | BBC Earth
BBC Earth
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4:12 · Apr 27, 2026
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And
I
was
just
about
to
start
talking,
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0:02
And I was just about to start talking,
0:04
when I felt a hand come up on my head,
0:08
and she twisted my head so she could look straight in my eyes.
0:15
After months of planning,
0:17
we travelled to Rwanda for one of the last shoots of the series.
0:24
We had no idea what we were about to witness.
0:35
There's one ape, however, that spends nearly all its time on the ground.
0:39
It lives here, 10,000 feet up,
0:42
on the flanks of the volcanoes of Central Africa,
0:45
on the borders of Rwanda and Zaire.
0:49
The gorilla.
0:51
You don't stare at a gorilla.
0:53
That's a challenging thing to do.
0:55
So you keep your head down and you make these belch vocalisations...
0:58
(IMITATES A GORILLA)..all the time.
1:06
(HE MAKES VOCALISATIONS) And that's the sort of conversational acknowledgment
1:10
that you are in their presence.
1:14
It seems really very unfair
1:16
that man should have chosen the gorilla to symbolise all
1:21
that is aggressive and violent.
1:24
When that's the one thing that the gorilla is not, and that we are.
1:30
And John said, "Go over there, and when you get to them,
1:35
start talking about the thumb
1:37
and the forefinger and how it's important to grip things."
1:42
"Right you are, John", I said.
1:44
Next thing we know is
1:46
that her two youngsters come out
1:48
and actually sit on him.
1:58
There was a moment
2:00
when you could barely only saw the top of David's head,
2:03
literally.
2:05
And my jaw dropped.
2:07
I mean, everyone's jaw dropped.
2:08
Didn't expect this at all.
2:15
I honestly don't know how long it was.
2:18
I suspect it was about 10 minutes or even quarter of an hour.
2:22
I was simply transported.
2:23
I mean, you just didn't encounter at the time, this extraordinary acceptance.
2:39
And I was just about to start talking about the opposition of the thumb
2:42
and the forefinger when I felt a hand come up on my head.
2:48
And it was this adult female.
2:50
And she twisted my head so she could look straight in my eyes,
2:56
and looked inside my mouth, and put a finger in my mouth.
3:00
And then made this belch vocalisation.
3:03
So I did my best to respond.
3:06
And you saw her look into one of his eyes
3:09
and then into his other one.
3:11
And I thought, "My God, his head's going to come off,
3:13
and we haven't finished the series yet."
3:16
Which was a very uncharitable thing to think.
3:19
And I left, crawled back through the undergrowth, and I said,
3:25
"That's one of the most extraordinary moments of my life.
3:28
Was it wonderful?"
3:29
He said, "Well, we got a bit."
3:32
I said, "Only a bit?"
3:33
He said, "Well, yes, because I was waiting for you.
3:35
I didn't want to run out of film
3:36
when you're in the middle of explaining about the thumb
3:39
and the forefinger."
3:46
Extraordinary, really.
3:47
I mean, it was one of the most privileged moments of my life, really.
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