Gorillas battle each other in explosive brawl in front of horrified onlookers
A fight between four gorillas at a US zoo in front of terrified onlookers, including children, has gone viral after being caught on camera and shared to TikTok.
The fight broke out at Houston Zoo with the four male gorillas seen to be throwing punches at each other inside the enclosure, wrestling with each other.
The original video was posted to TikTok on June 16, and has racked up millions of views online.
It's reportedly not the first time fights have broken out between the gorillas, who will size each other up to protect their families or if they want to break away and form their own troops.
The animals can be seen running and chasing each other around the indoor section of their enclosure, getting right up close to the glass where they grapple with each other in front of visitors.
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Users have been reposting the video to TikTok with different sounds layered over, including wrestling match audio
The Houston Zoo is home to two troops of Western Lowland Gorillas, which are native to central Africa. However, those at the zoo were all born and raised in other American zoos.
Four years ago, in June 2019, the zoo welcomed three new gorillas - Henry, TJ and Leom, to their facility. On arrival, they were quarantined before being introduced to each other.
After that, they joined the bachelor troop with Chaka and Ajari, the gorillas already living in the habitat. The Houston Zoo troop is said to be the largest gorilla exhibit in North America.
The Houston Zoo is home to two troops of Western Lowland Gorillas (LightRocket via Getty Images)As the largest of the great apes, the gorillas have a landscape of about a two-thirds of an acre, which they share outdoors with a small family of red river hogs. Their enclosure was designed by the engineering firm Walter P Moore.
When constructing the enclosure, special adaptations had to be made to ensure the gorillas would be secure. They are capable of unscrewing bolts, so everything used as a connection for the enclosure had to be welded or use countersunk bolts.
Any debris more than 3/8 of an inch could be used to scratch and potentially break the windows which separate the powerful animals from the public.
The new enclosure was built ready for the return of the gorillas, who came back to Houston Zoo for the first time in more than a decade. The original four gorillas were Zuri, his mate Holli, Sufi, their daughter, and another older female, Binti.
Zuri, Holli and Sufi came from the Bronx Zoo in New York, while Binti came from Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, acting as a sort of grandmother figure for Sufi. The original trio of bachelors consisted of Chaka, Mike and Ajari who came from the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina.
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