Visitors to zoos often overlook the impact of their actions. One dangerous behavior is direct eye contact with gorillas.
This simple gesture, while innocent to humans, is deeply threatening to gorillas. A tragic incident in the Netherlands proved this.
How a zoo visitor’s friendly behavior triggered a violent gorilla attack
In 2007, a Dutch woman regularly visited a western gorilla named Bokito at the Diergaarde Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam.
She thought they shared a bond and claimed they laughed together. She even visited him up to four times weekly.
But to Bokito, her frequent eye contact was not affection. It was a serious challenge to his dominance.
That year, Bokito escaped from his enclosure. He crossed a barrier and directly attacked the woman who often watched him.
Reports revealed that children had thrown rocks earlier, possibly upsetting the gorilla. But he went straight for the woman.
Bokito bit and dragged her violently, causing several bone fractures. She was quickly hospitalized with severe injuries.
Why gorillas react aggressively to direct eye contact from humans
According to experts, gorillas perceive direct stares as acts of hostility and threats to their troop’s safety.
The website Gorilla Trek explains that mountain gorillas see eye contact as a challenge to the silverback’s leadership.
“To mountain gorillas, any person who keeps direct eye contact with them is a challenger and an enemy who comes to destroy the family,” explains the website Gorilla Trek.
To protect his group, the silverback may charge, attack, or fight anyone who maintains eye contact.
Gorillas are not naturally aggressive. But in captivity, certain triggers can lead to terrifying behavior.
Additionally, the woman had been warned not to look Bokito in the eye. But she believed their interactions were playful.
She told *De Telegraaf* newspaper, “If I laugh at him, he laughs back.”
How the zoo responded after the gorilla attack
After the incident, the zoo took immediate safety measures to prevent future attacks.
They began handing out special glasses to visitors of the gorilla enclosure.
These glasses used mirrored lenses to trick Bokito into thinking no one was staring at him.
The aim was to reduce direct eye contact, lowering perceived threats for the gorilla. Though the glasses were effective, they are no longer distributed at the zoo today.
A similar encounter shows how easily gorillas are provoked by eye contact
One Reddit user shared their chilling experience while working at a zoo at age 15.
They made brief eye contact with a silverback gorilla during feeding time.
That tiny glance triggered the gorilla to charge and slam into the fencing.
Other gorillas followed suit, throwing hay and poking with sticks. The staff quickly evacuated the area.
The user recalled that a baby gorilla had been playfully beating its chest nearby, which drew their attention.
Unknowingly, they caught the silverback’s eye—an act of accidental provocation.
On social media, many shared on Reddit that they had a similar experience making eye contact with a gorilla, though it wasn’t as terrifying.
One person said: Imagine getting hulk smashed by a gorilla and then still coming back like “yea that was a friend hulk smash, we do that all the time but you wouldn’t get it”
A second wrote: The gorillas might be fine but the birds up in the tree look pissed.
While a third commented: The gorillas might be fine but the birds up in the tree look pissed.
Another added: I once inadvertently made eye contact with a gorilla at the zoo and he slapped the glass, and I left immediately. Like, not just the gorilla section, but the whole zoo.
Someone else said: Gorillas like “what the fuck does everyone keep looking at up there?” Probably has a complex, always looking up to the right.