Gorillas have been observed playing tag in zoos all-over Europe

Jul 14, 2010 07:01 GMT  ·  By

Specialists observed this behavior for the last three years in 21 gorillas from six colonies, in five European zoos. Apparently this is a common conduct in other great African apes as well, and maybe in several non-primates.

Tag is a game of hit-and-run and it basically allows gorillas to develop and maintain their competitive spirit. The idea of the game is the same as for children: players must run as fast as they can without being hit and the tagger wants to avoid being hit back.

This is also a quite unfair game, because only one player will get hit and the others will not. It is also a bit different from the child's play because the gorillas' hitting can be very hard. Observations have shown that a gentle hit was likely to be ignored, whereas a big hit would trigger a big response. The game might also be a way for the young gorillas, mainly playing it, to test the limits of their equals but also of their parents and elders.

The gorilla-played game resembles a lot to children-play. Behavioral biologist Dr Marina Davila Ross of the University of Portsmouth, says that researchers' “findings on gorilla play show important similarities with the children’s game of tag. Not only did the gorillas in our study hit their playmates and then run away chased by their playmates, but they also switched their roles when hit so the chaser became the chased and vice versa. Experimental research has already demonstrated that animals with the disadvantage in an unfair situation show an aversion to the unfairness so with that knowledge and our own study we can conclude that humans are not unique in their ability to change their behaviour in social situations depending on whether they have the advantage or disadvantage in an unfair situation.”

Dr Ross is also very interested in laughter and play, and along with her colleagues Edwin van Leeuwen and Dr Elke Zimmermann, noticed that in gorillas' tag, the tagger had a “play face”. The eyes and mouth are opened and the lips are very often held over the teeth in what might look like a smile. Young apes also make a specific sound that can be associated with human laughter.