--- description: Jelani is all about the smartphone title: This Gorilla Is Completely Mesmerized by Pictures of Other Gorillas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Gorilla Is Completely Mesmerized by Pictures of Other Gorillas  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 9, 2015 6:29 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 9, 2015 6:29 PM CUT Humans aren’t the only ones who are fascinated by smartphone technology. A video of a zoo-goer entrancing a gorilla with pictures of other gorillas on his phone is going viral. When a young man showed his phone to Jelani, a Western Lowland Gorilla housed at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, the animal was mesmerized by pictures of his fellow primates. The gorilla even sat down and settled in on the opposite side of the glass as the visitor continued to scroll through photos. But while guests couldn’t take their eyes off the tech-savvy great ape, his captivation wasn’t necessarily a surprise to zookeepers. “He is a laid-back individual and likes to look at cellphone photos and videos,” Jelani’s bio on the Louisville Zoo’s [website](http://louisvillezoo.org/gorilla-forest/meet-the-gorillas/ "undefined") reads. Turns out gorillas like to spend their free time just like the rest of us: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4026722/gorilla-pictures-smartphone-jelani/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4026722/gorilla-pictures-smartphone-jelani/"},"headline":"This Gorilla Is Completely Mesmerized by Pictures of Other Gorillas","datePublished":"2015-09-09T18:29:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:24:28.021Z","description":"Jelani is all about the smartphone","url":"https://time.com/4026722/gorilla-pictures-smartphone-jelani/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4026722/gorilla-pictures-smartphone-jelani/","name":"This Gorilla Is Completely Mesmerized by Pictures of Other Gorillas"}}]}] ```