Zola the gorilla is a very popular animal. In fact, you might even consider him to be one of the most famous gorillas because he has some awesome dance skills and puts on his best performance behind the scenes at the Dallas Zoo. It is one of the many ways that the zoo ensures that the animals have quality time to enrich themselves when they are not out in front of the regular visitors.
“Enrichment helps enhance the environment and lives of animals, like Zola, by providing them with mental and physical stimulation to increase natural behaviors. Enrichment can take many forms, but for this spunky great ape, it means playing and spinning in his favorite blue pool!” One of the things that Zola loves to do more than anything else is to relax and take a swim in his little blue pool. He claps his hands, splashes in the water and dances like crazy. As soon as he gets in the water he goes into a flashdance routine that is going to make you wish that you had a little blue pool of your own.
Most of us recognize that getting in a swimming pool on a hot day is a great way to relax and burn off some additional energy. It’s a lot of fun but for Zola, it is a natural habitat. You are not going to believe the dance moves that he has any time there is water around. It doesn’t matter if he is dancing in the rain or splashing in a puddle, you really are not going to believe what you see.
The people who have the opportunity to see Zola in action are thrilled with what he does. Fortunately, somebody had the forethought to capture the event on camera and then post it on the Dallas Zoo’s channel. One of the commenters said: “This is my new “go to for a smile” video! Everybody should spin in a giant tub now and then. The world would be a happier place.” and another person adds, “That made my day better. I don’t recall the last time I had that much fun. The zoo must be doing something right to have such a happy gorilla.” We couldn’t agree more.
We hope that there are more videos of Zola but for now, you can enjoy this splash dance video: