APE ANTICS

The Whirling World of primate play

- Rachel Kehoe

Feel the grass under you as you start rolling down the hill. You’re turning over and over, the world swirling into a kaleidoscope of green, blue, and sunlight. With every roll you can’t help but giggle. Finally, you come to a stop at the bottom, the sky and trees still whirling around you. It takes a moment for everything to settle. But that feeling of joy remains.

You’re not alone in loving this dizzying experience. Our evolutionary primate cousins— gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos— are in on the fun, too.

 A Dive Into Ape Twirls

Why do apes spin? This question first captured Marcus Perlman’s attention in 2011 after watching a viral video of Zola. At the time, Zola was a gorilla at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada, and he loved to spin. In 2017, Perlman saw Zola again, this time playfully spinning in a kiddie pool at the Dallas Zoo in Texas. Perlman is a cognitive scientist and lecturer in linguistics at the University of Birmingham in England. He studies the behaviors and communication methods of great apes, especially gorillas.

Initially, scientists saw spinning as a way apes might gesture to communicate meaning. Perhaps it’s similar to how some people wave their hands or nod their heads when they talk. Alternatively, researchers thought, spinning could be a form of play. It could help with balance, spatial awareness, and muscle strength—skills that are essential for survival in the wild. Perlman’s view, however, changed after seeing Zola. “Watching the video made me think there was more to it,” he says. “Something creative, more like dance.”