Dancing gorilla channels his inner 'Maniac' in kiddie pool
"He is probably one of the goofiest and fun-loving gorillas in our troop."
-- This dancing gorilla channeling his inner “Maniac” in his kiddie pool at the Dallas Zoo is captivating the hearts of the internet.
Zola, a 14-year-old Western lowland gorilla, showed off his awesome moves, spinning around in his pool flailing his arms to splash the water, and it’s basically encompassing how everyone feels about it being Friday.
“This is Zola 100 percent,” Ashely Orr, the primate supervisor who recorded the hilarious video, wrote to ABC News. “He is probably one of the goofiest and fun-loving gorillas in our troop at the Dallas Zoo.”
The zoo’s YouTube video of Zola’s next-level moves, which has nearly 200,000 views, has sparked social media users to come up with their own renditions of the video, adding music over his antics to make it even funnier.
“We knew Zola had a knack for dancing, but had no idea he’d show off his moves that day,” Orr said. “We were cleaning the building and heard the splashing, so we ran over to see him in all his excitement. It’s always rewarding to see our animals really enjoy the enrichment items we put out for them to explore.”
She said Zola’s kiddie pool was “a treat” for him because he doesn’t always get to have one, “but when he does he thoroughly enjoys it.”
“For enrichment to be effective it has to be different -- and this certainly sparked his interest and dance moves that day,” said Orr.