An accountant was left stunned when a trip to the zoo with his girlfriend took a rude turn – after a gorilla gave them a ‘cheeky’ smirk and held up its middle finger.
Ben Collins, 33, and his partner Danielle Kirk, also 33, were on holiday in Bristol and decided to visit the zoo when their hilarious ape encounter occurred.
The couple, along with other zoo visitors, were sat eagerly waiting to watch the western lowland gorillas eat lunch when one ape adopted a mischievous grin and performed the obscene hand gesture – much to the delighted crowd’s amusement.
Ben Collins, 33, and his partner Danielle Kirk, also 33, were visiting Bristol Zoo for the day when the western lowland gorilla gave them a ‘cheeky’ smirk and held up its middle finger


The couple, along with other zoo visitors, were sat eagerly waiting to watch the western lowland gorillas eat lunch when one of the apes decided to provide the entertainment
The ape seemed to recognise what a positive response his actions were getting as it continued to swear at its audience for quite some time, giving Ben time to get some funny snaps.
Ben, from Leeds, West Yorks, said: ‘The gorillas were quite amusing. They have obviously got used to mimicking the people who come to watch them at food time.
‘And some of them seem to have picked up on some bad habits like in the photos.
‘He just came out and started holding his middle finger up towards the crowds. The whole time he looked like he had this cheeky smirk on his face.
‘Everyone who saw him was laughing and he carried on doing it for quite a while. I think he realised he was getting a good reaction. It was so funny.
‘It’s an odd thing to see a human trait in a gorilla. It’s definitely not something I have ever seen before.
‘I think the gorillas were the animals we spent the most time watching during our visit, they’re so interesting.
‘Their facial expressions are incredible and they’re faces are so human-like.
‘They were really great to watch. But they were watching us just as much as we were watching them.’
The hilarious shots were captured by Ben using a Fuji X100 camera.

The ape seemed to recognise the positive response his actions were getting and Ben said: ‘he carried on doing it for quite a while… it was so funny’

Bristol Zoo is home to seven western lowland gorillas including baby Ayana who was born in April 2017 and 32 stone silverback Jock
After developing a fascination with photography as a young child, Ben got into the hobby around 18 years ago.
Ben said: ‘When I was really young I got given a film camera and that started my interest in photography.
‘Then around 2000 all the first digital cameras started coming out and suddenly anybody could get into it.
‘Wildlife photography is cool but I enjoy a whole mixture of photography.
‘For me the big draw of photography is having those memories. It’s about remembering times with family and friends, experiences you’ve had and holidays.
‘I think it’s great that with the developments with phones that nearly everyone now has something that takes photos on their person.’
Bristol Zoo Gardens is home to seven western lowland gorillas.
There is 32 stone silverback Jock as well as Kera, Kukena, Romina and Touni.
In February 2016, Kera’s first baby Afia was born after an emergency caesarean section and in April 2017, Touni gave birth to baby Ayana.
In November 2017 41-year-old Salome, who had been at Bristol Zoo for more than 20 years, died.