'They're not sad at all' Zoo says gorillas are relaxed after intruder filmed a 'lonely' ape

It was a rainy afternoon in Bristol, but the troop of western lowland gorillas did not seem to mind the damp as they foraged for snacks of lettuce and cereal scattered around their zoo enclosure.

- Steven Morris

To the untrained eye, their expressions might be described as lugubrious, but Sarah Gedman, the curator of mammals at the Bristol Zoological Society (BZS), insisted the apes were perfectly relaxed. "They're not sad at all," she said.

The question of whether the gorillas at Bristol Zoo Gardens might be sad has made headlines in the UK tabloids and provoked concern from around the world.

Three years ago the site near the Clifton suspension bridge closed to the public and most of the animals were moved to a new site on the edge of the city. The eight gorillas were left behind while their new "African forest" habitat, four-and-a-half times bigger than their current enclosure, was built.

This month, an "urban explorer" broke into the zoo and posted a video of one ape tapping a glass window in the gorilla house and looking - to the amateur animal watcher - sorrowful. One newspaper wrote that the "world's loneliest" gorillas had been found at an abandoned zoo.

Gedman said the gorilla's expression, and the conditions in which the troop were living, had been misunderstood. "We constantly monitor how they are," she said.