Shabani the gorilla learns the ropes

Sick of just hanging around, Shabani the gorilla has taken to walking the tightrope, delighting hundreds of visitors at a Japanese zoo.

The 10-year-old Western Lowland gorilla is meant to hang on the rope but has started walking across it instead, flapping his arms to keep balance as onlookers cheer him on.



"The rope is meant for hanging on but he started walking on it shortly after he got here," said Hiroshi Kobayashi, head of Higashiyama Zoo in the central city of Nagoya.

"Gorillas climb trees in the wild but we have hardly seen them walking a tightrope," he said.