Encounters With Mountain Gorillas - People Getting Up-Close & Personal With The Primates

For some of us mountain gorillas, or silverback gorillas, might not be the first choice of animal to get up-close and personal with, the thought of a wild 350lb muscular primate getting intimate and cuddly with you could be ever-so-slighty tipping the balance of your comfort zone.

And here's where it gets scary, your first instinct on meeting one up close would be to run. Never do that. Mountain gorillas take that as a threat and will possibly attack. Nope, what you need to do is just sit still in a submissive pose and let them do whatever they want.

Sure, they might be the next closest living relatives to humans after the chimpanzees, but you really wouldn't want to meet one in a dark alley, let alone in their natural habitat, the tropical forests of Africa.

However, if after that little pep talk on what to do has not deterred you then chances are you might well end up doing what some of these people in this compilation of videos have done, going into the wild African tropical forests in search of these 700 or so troops of impressive creatures and marveling at their appearance and human-like social habits.

In truth these primates are generally calm and non-aggressive, unless they are disturbed, and you really wouldn't want to do that.

So sit back in the comfort of your chair and watch these amazing encounters that people have had with some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet and marvel at the effect it has on them.

Tense encounter when a tour group comes face-to-face with a Silverback Mountain Gorilla in Rwanda

Meeting silverback Agashya during a gorilla trek in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.

And here's what happens when it goes wrong. Woman gets dragged away by angry gorilla.

Quite possibly the most famous gorilla encounter ever, David Attenborough plays with cute baby gorillas.