One of the rangers whose selfie with two orphaned gorillas went viral on social media – has explained how he snapped the picture.
Mathieu Shamavu who is based at Vuruga National Park, DR Congo, said rangers often spend most of their time with the animals and on this particular day, he was checking his phone when he noticed Ndakazi and Ndeze were aping him.
Even though the primates usually imitate humans, Mathieu told the Guardian he took the picture on further realising the ‘girls’ were in for a selfie treat as each pulled off what would be a memorable moment pose. “In terms of behaviour, they like to mimic everything that is happening, everything we do,” he said.
In the photo which was shared on Facebook, one primate is seen standing upright behind, few metres from him while the other hunched over.
According to the park’s management, the ‘girls’ lost their parents at the age of 12 and despite lack of parental love, they have remained cheeky in presence of familiar faces thus able to express true selves.
“We’ve received dozens of messages about the photo. Yes, it’s real! Those gorilla gals (sic) are always acting cheeky so this was the perfect shot of their true personalities,” the management said.