King Kong is out with the Oscar-winning visionary.

The story in short can be enumerated in a few lines: A crew of explorers and filmmakers set out to investigate the myths of legendary creature King Kong Travelling to Skull Island, they discover a land unaffected by time as Kong lives with dinosaurs that have been hidden and protected from man for centuries. As the crew struggles to survive on the treacherous island, they eventually capture Kong through his fascination with a beautiful woman. Taken back to New York, it may only be a matter of time before Kong escapes his confines. Who is the winner? King Kong or the king behind the Kong? No doubt the winner is the amazing director Peter Jackson.

The giant gorilla was first made in the celebrated film in 1933 and Peter Jackson wanted to re-create it. He has had an obsession with this dream project. He made the Skull Island as the most hellish , tortuous jungle. On seeing the 24 feet gorilla in the film backed with super technology ,computer magics, special effects, one would wonder what would be the scientific facts with regard to gorillas, orang-utans. Following facts may worth reading: Few animals have sparked the imagination of man as much as the gorilla, the largest of the living primates and the last member of the ape family known to science.

The chimpanzees are the closest relatives of humans; the next in line are the gorillas. The Orang-utans are only remotely related to the other species.

The genetic material of apes is identical to that of humans to a very large degree. Differences are especially small in the nuclear DNA Gorillas share 97.7 per cent of our DNA. They have twenty four pairs of chromosomes and humans have twenty three. It has been established that our chromosome number two is equivalent to two pairs of the chimpanzee's chromosomes.

There are three subspecies of gorillas living in different parts of Africa.

* Western Lowland Gorilla (gorilla gorilla)

* Eastern Lowland Gorilla (gorilla graueri)

* Mountain Gorilla (gorilla berengei)

The height of male gorillas : 5'6" upright, 4'6" normal stance. Females 5' upright, 3'6" - 4' normal stance. Normal weight of male gorillas : 135-225 Kilograms.

Females 68-112 Kgs.

Like all great apes, gorillas’ arms are longer than their legs. When they move quadrupedally, they knuckle-walk, supporting their weight on the third and fourth digits of their curled hands Gorillas live in groups, or troops, from two to over 30 members. Gorillas recognize each other by their faces and body shapes. Each gorilla has a unique nose print. They are gentle and intelligent. They are not aggressive.

Chest pounding, often portrayed in films, rarely happens with apes. Gorillas feel deeply and remember for years. Like other primates each individual has distinctive fingerprints. Gorillas rarely attack humans. But in an encounter a person should stay still and refrain from staring or pointing at the gorilla. Gorillas are susceptible to various parasites and diseases, especially to pneumonia during the long, cold wet seasons. Gorillas eat some 200 types of leaves, tubers, flowers, fruit, fungus and some insects. Favorite foods include bamboo, thistles and wild celery. Gorillas do not drink water. They obtain all the moisture they need from the vast amounts of foliage they consume. Males consume approximately 22 kgs a day.

Female gorillas reach maturity at seven or eight years old, but they usually don't breed until ten years or older. Gorillas communicate using auditory signals (vocalizations), visual signals (gestures, body postures, facial expressions), and olfactory signals (odors). They are generally quiet animals, grunting and belching, but they may also scream, bark, and roar.

Scientists have heard 22 different vocalizations, each seeming to have its own meaning. Gorillas crouch low and approach from the side when they are being submissive. They walk directly when confident and stand, chest beat (actually they slap with open hands), and advance when being aggressive. Gorillas may live about 35 years in the wild.

Orang- utans have very large brains and are very intelligent, especially those in captivity. Orang-utans have been seen using tools and copying people around them, such as their keepers, and watching their movements. Puluh,a 135 kg orang-utan planned its escape from its cage at Chester Zoo, Britain in 2003. He went up to the roof and interested in soaking up the sun..After a 90 minute doze he slipped back into his cage.

Santhanam Nagarajan
snagarajansATgmail.com