Gorillas spin because it’s fun, and quite possibly because it makes them dizzy. What looks like a quirky zoo moment is actually a behavior observed across all great ape species, and recent research suggests these animals may be deliberately seeking out the head-rushing, balance-disrupting sensation that comes with rapid rotation. In other words, gorillas appear to enjoy getting high on their own dizziness.
Spinning for the Rush
A 2023 study published in the journal Primates, led by researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick, analyzed over 40 online videos of great apes spinning on ropes. The findings were striking: on average, the apes completed 5.5 revolutions per spinning episode at speeds of about 1.5 revolutions per second, and they typically repeated this across three bouts. Those speeds match what professional human dancers, circus performers, and Sufi whirling dervishes achieve during ceremonies designed to induce a trance-like state.
For an untrained human, spinning at that rate would produce severe dizziness almost immediately. The researchers actually invited readers to try matching the apes’ average speed and duration for firsthand proof. The fact that gorillas and other great apes can reach and sustain these speeds suggests this isn’t accidental. They’re spinning hard enough to alter their perception of themselves and their surroundings.
They Keep Going Until They Fall
The clearest sign that dizziness is part of the appeal, not just a side effect, comes from what happens when the spinning stops. The study found that apes who spun for more revolutions were significantly more likely to lose their grip on the rope or let it go slack. Out of 43 cases where an ape released the rope, 30 resulted in the animal immediately sitting or lying down. In seven more cases, the ape stumbled a short distance before collapsing. Only six times did the animal stay on its feet.
This pattern suggests the apes deliberately keep spinning even after dizziness sets in, pushing through until they physically can’t hold on. That’s not what you’d expect from an animal that finds dizziness unpleasant. It looks more like the dizzy feeling is the point, or at least a welcome part of the experience.
Play, Display, or Something Deeper
Context matters when interpreting why a particular gorilla is spinning at a particular moment. Young gorillas spin as part of normal play. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund lists spinning alongside wrestling, leaping off branches, and rolling down hills as common play behaviors in juveniles. For young gorillas, spinning is one of many ways to burn energy and explore what their bodies can do.
Adult gorillas sometimes incorporate spinning into social displays. One well-known case is Zola, a gorilla at the Dallas Zoo whose spinning videos went viral. Observers noted that his spinning appeared to be part of a creative display, and he looked like he was having a great time doing it. Silverback displays more broadly can include running, chest beating, posturing, and throwing vegetation as ways of communicating dominance without actual aggression. Spinning can fold into this repertoire.
But the most intriguing interpretation goes beyond play or social signaling. The Birmingham and Warwick researchers proposed that spinning is a way great apes deliberately alter their mental state. Because every human culture has independently developed rituals, substances, or practices to shift consciousness, the researchers wondered whether this drive might be inherited from a common ancestor. Finding that great apes independently seek out dizziness-inducing experiences supports that idea. As the study put it, “spinning serves as a self-sufficient means of changing body-mind responsiveness in hominids.”
Not Just Gorillas
Spinning isn’t unique to gorillas. The study documented the behavior across great ape species, including chimpanzees and orangutans, all using ropes or vines during solitary play. The consistency across species makes this harder to dismiss as a quirk of captivity or an individual animal’s personality. It points to something more fundamental, a shared tendency among our closest relatives to seek out experiences that scramble their normal sensory processing.
When Spinning Signals a Problem
There’s an important distinction between the kind of spinning that looks playful and purposeful and the kind that looks repetitive and compulsive. In captive primates, repetitive spinning, defined in behavioral research as circling around a fixed point at least three times in a rigid, patterned way, can be classified as a motor stereotypy. Stereotypies are repetitive behaviors that often develop in animals experiencing chronic stress, insufficient mental stimulation, or inadequate living conditions.
The line between normal and abnormal isn’t always obvious. A gorilla spinning on a rope during play, pausing, then choosing to spin again looks very different from one pacing in tight circles for hours. Researchers acknowledge that distinguishing the two requires looking at the broader context: Is the behavior varied and flexible, or rigid and unchanging? Does the animal show other signs of engagement with its environment, or does it seem withdrawn? Play spinning tends to be spontaneous and interspersed with other activities. Stereotypic spinning tends to be monotonous and persistent.
So when you see a viral video of a gorilla whirling on a rope and tumbling over dizzy, you’re most likely watching an animal doing something it genuinely enjoys, something that may connect to one of the oldest impulses in the primate family tree: the desire to feel something different.