Charging Silverback

This is quite an old photo taken when I visited the mountain gorillas in what was Zaire but is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The silverbacks are quite ...
Read more

This is quite an old photo taken when I visited the mountain gorillas in what was Zaire but is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The silverbacks are quite aloof and rarely interact with you but this one on seeing my camera lens pointed at him took it as a threat (you don't make eye contact with a sliverback unless you want to fight him) charged straight at me from about 4 metres away. I crouched down and looked straight at the ground and held my breath; and fortunately this was enough for him to realise I wasn't challenging him, so he brushed me aside and carried on down a path. One of the scariest photos I've ever taken.
Read less