Gorillas that are great with kids are also luckier in love

Enlarge / "Resting in contact," primatologist jargon for "getting a cuddle." (credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund)

Cantsbee the gorilla was great with kids, which is why it struck gorilla researcher Stacy Rosenbaum as odd when he suddenly started grunting aggressively at his usual gaggle of baby gorilla sidekicks. Cantsbee seemed oddly annoyed by them tagging along behind.

“Cantsbee was always incredibly gentle,” says Rosenbaum. “He was never aggressive towards infants or humans. So the infants looked startled, not sure what to do.” Eventually they got the hint and moved off into the bushes to go around the grumpy Cantsbee, who then began displaying aggressively at Rosenbaum, too.

“I thought he was just having a really bad day,” she recalls. “But then I realized he was sitting next to a snare. It sent chills down my spine—I can’t say for sure, but it seems like he was protecting not just the infants, but me, too.”