Meet gorillas in Rwanda's mountains
Meet gorillas in Rwanda's mountains
Filming mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzFilming mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: High in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda, wildlife filmmaker Andreas Kieling has been marching his way through the vegetation for days. He's looking for the last great primates left on earth, mountain gorillas. Just a mere 650 animals have survived the scourges of war and poaching. No tourists come up here. In recent times only a handful of researchers have managed to reach these gorillas, so these animals are very unaccustomed to humans. Kieling must proceed with care. He will only be able to get the unique footage he wants if the male gorillas don't get irritated and if they accept his presence.
The gorillas are still entirely indifferent to him and the dominant male remains calm. The animals grow accustomed to their strange visitor. Kieling observes the gorilla family for two days. By fitting a special low-light amplifier on his camera, Kieling is able to observe them and film them at night as well. He's amazed at how active the animals are while in their nests. Nights here are 11 hours long and there's plenty of time to sleep. But the animals retreat to their nests, which they build anew each day, during the daytime too. They do this because gorillas, like all apes, are not housebroken.
As day breaks the silverback descends along with his clan. The gorillas nourish themselves on an assortment of 40 types of plants, which flourish in these parts. Kieling sneaks a bit closer to the animals.
ANDREAS KIELING: "Those are two powerful males, two silverbacks."
NARRATOR: When one of the silverbacks heads directly towards him, even the photographer begins to feel a bit uneasy.
KIELING: "This was pretty close."
NARRATOR: Andreas Kieling describes his time with the mountain gorillas as one of the most powerful experiences of his life.
The gorillas are still entirely indifferent to him and the dominant male remains calm. The animals grow accustomed to their strange visitor. Kieling observes the gorilla family for two days. By fitting a special low-light amplifier on his camera, Kieling is able to observe them and film them at night as well. He's amazed at how active the animals are while in their nests. Nights here are 11 hours long and there's plenty of time to sleep. But the animals retreat to their nests, which they build anew each day, during the daytime too. They do this because gorillas, like all apes, are not housebroken.
As day breaks the silverback descends along with his clan. The gorillas nourish themselves on an assortment of 40 types of plants, which flourish in these parts. Kieling sneaks a bit closer to the animals.
ANDREAS KIELING: "Those are two powerful males, two silverbacks."
NARRATOR: When one of the silverbacks heads directly towards him, even the photographer begins to feel a bit uneasy.
KIELING: "This was pretty close."
NARRATOR: Andreas Kieling describes his time with the mountain gorillas as one of the most powerful experiences of his life.