Zola, the breakdancing gorilla, made a splash in this viral video, as he seemed to be enjoying himself as some animals do when taking a bath. The video originated from the Dallas Zoo YouTube channel, and as explained in the description, it was a behind-the-scenes look at animal behavior. The film was shot by Primate Supervisor Ashley Orr. The video is reminiscent of the ’80s iconic Flashdance “Maniac” song.
Apparently, this was Zola’s second breakdancing performance, as back in 2011, he was a young gorilla busting some moves at the Calgary Zoo.
There was a purpose to this, as, by immersing animals in an environment lush with enrichment, this would, in turn, enhance their behavior. From the video, it seems like the animal has a personality and this likely beats sitting idly by a thick window looking at zoo attendees. It appears that behind-the-scenes is quite entertaining to the 14-year-old western lowland gorilla.
Staff assured that there was no music playing that triggered this random behavior, but they explained that this is just typical play behavior that gorillas do. The video is only 30-seconds long, but so far has gathered 350,000 views at the time of this posting.
Video producer Bob Hagh had his own behavioral enhancement of sorts when he added the Flashdance “Maniac” music to the clip, giving it a more authentic feel to Zola’s emotions and glee. It sounds like this primate will give Jennifer Beals a run for her money. Will we see a dance off between the two in the future?
I cannot stress enough how important it is you watch this gorilla bathe-dancing to maniac. By @bobhagh pic.twitter.com/e15f9NPO7j
— Kristina Koppeser ? (@KristinaLuca) June 22, 2017
Could you see Zola the gorilla gaining notoriety, and how far do you think this viral video will go in popularity? What soundtracks do you see other people adding to this clip? Another one that comes to mind is Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record).”
How many memes do you see being created? This video feature is enough to give one a chuckle, so perhaps the zoo will charge admission to see Zola breakdancing behind-the-scenes?
Perhaps you can stick around for a third performance and catch it on your own cell phone. Who knows, but it looks like the Dallas Zoo will have its bandwidth full for as long as it trends.
[Featured Image by Keystone/Getty Images]
