Recently, I ran into a friend of mine who told me he had seen some Revealed videos and was fascinated how very funny and witty the gorillas were. He made a few more remarks and was gone. This otherwise unimportant encounter left me thinking about the alleged funny and witty behaviour in gorillas. Are they really witty? Or do they behave normally under all circumstances and the wittiness is only in the eyes of humans?
I started thinking hard. If gorillas can intentionally make fun, that would mean they have a sense of humour. How would a sense of humour in gorillas manifest itself? We know how it works in humans - we recognise a witty statement and usually respond by laughter or smile. Some people can intentionally create a funny situation. We describe such people as having a sense of humour. From this perspective, humour is one of the basic human emotions.
Over the nearly three years we have been running the Revealed project and watching gorillas in the Prague zoo on a daily basis, we have observed manifestations of certain types of emotions. The strongest show of emotions until now was sympathy that members of the troop expressed to Kamba after her miscarriage. Their gentle and slow touches can only be interpreted as a demonstration of deep empathy between the apes. Another highly emotional situation occurred a few days later. When Kamba returned after a successful surgery, the others were visibly happy and patted her on the shoulders. In spring this year, we talked about Apenheul, the Netherlands, where we shot a video of two adolescent gorillas engaged in a kind of love games. Their rather clumsy physical contacts were beyond doubt an expression of mutual affection, perhaps love. However we call it, it was certainly positive emotions.
As regards humour, which we started with, we should ask how a comic effect is achieved. The one who intentionally makes fun as well as the audience must know standard behaviour in the given situation. Making fun is not possible without a shared perception within a group of what is normal and common. There is yet another key element to intentional humour - the one who originates it must be able to act or communicate in a slightly different, original way, be parodic while making it clear that it is a hyperbole. This is the way humour works in humans. Are gorillas capable of such complicated behavioural patterns?
From ethological research as well as our own observations we know at least one type of intentional pretence that gorillas are very good at. This type of behaviour is called "playful face" and is commonly used by humans and apes, as well as predators, for instance. It is most often observed in games among young and in defence and hunting training. Individuals pretend aggression while using a "playful face" to make it clear it is just a game, not real aggression, and that there are certain rules to be observed (such as not to bite with full force). If the "playful face" signal were lacking, the attacked individual would perceive the situation as an act of pure aggression and would deploy full defence. The situation would most likely result in an injury or even death.
So, gorillas are capable of pretence. They can pretend an attack while signalling that in reality, it is a game. Would they be able to act in a parodic way and signal a hyperbole, which is the underlying principle of humour? We have not observed such behaviour in the pavilion. Yes, the gorillas are funny. They entertain us with acrobatic tricks and falls and charming grins. However, they are not being intentionally funny. Fun is in the eyes of the beholder. Let me conclude by saying that gorillas most likely lack a sense of humour. Or perhaps there is some specific gorilla humour we cannot recognise.
If you like, join the discussion and share your observations of behaviour in gorillas that might indicate their sense of humour. We may discover something interesting together.
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