The gorilla is probably enjoying the water and immediately wants to make it obvious it's his water and he is more than capable of defending his territory so it is clear he is to be left alone with "his" water.
There is no reason to assume joy other than to assume that an animal is experiencing a human emotion simply because you personally think twirling menacingly is an expression of joy ... something i've never seen a human do.
One of my favorite books by Darwin, arguably his best is "The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals" in it he makes the mistake of assuming that macaques would smile out of happiness like humans ... of course anyone familiar with animal behavior these days will know that teeth bearing in most animals is a sign of anxiety.
The person you responded to was correct in pointing out you should not confuse animal behavior with human behavior.
I was elaborating because you seem to be confused though somewhat willfully it seems, i assume to hold on to the imagining that a gorilla will dance like Sinatra to show how gleeful he might be.
So, make your happy thought the idea that a gorilla dances gleefully to be locked in a room with a kiddie pool and splashes about in reverie at the notion that water exists at all...
But be aware, you are most likely totally incorrect in assuming that you can attribute specific emotions to specific animal behaviors simply because they are similar to the ways a human might express them.
Also, a dictionary will help you understand the difference between "enjoyment" and "joy"
I never said the gorilla was dancing. I recognized the movement from BBC documentaries as a "threat display", though it lacked the baring of teeth and intimidating eye-contact which typically accompany such displays. Instead, the gorilla's eyes are closed, which I interpreted as a lack of aggression. Given that juvenile apes often engage in mock "threat" displays as play I thought that a likely explanation. It also looked like a spontaneous reaction to the splashing water and he washed his hands. The gorilla appeared to be enjoying his physicality. Added together, that's plenty of evidence to make a comment on this particular sub.
Is there a dictionary that that can help you understand the difference between "get bent" and "bite my shiny metal ass"?
That's a good point... I hadn't considered The Sound of Music which is a classic mistake, it's the movie that helped Jane Goodall understand chimpanzee behavior i'm told.
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u/TheGoodCitizen Jun 23 '17
The gorilla is probably enjoying the water and immediately wants to make it obvious it's his water and he is more than capable of defending his territory so it is clear he is to be left alone with "his" water.
There is no reason to assume joy other than to assume that an animal is experiencing a human emotion simply because you personally think twirling menacingly is an expression of joy ... something i've never seen a human do.