Funny reactions of animals seeing their reflections for the first time

What happens when animals in the wild see their reflections in a mirror for the first time?

The experiment was conducted by an innovative French photographer, Xavier Hubert Brierre.

He and his wife travelled to Gabon, in Africa, and set up a mirror and motion sensors in several locations to capture the animals' responses as they walked by, Mail Online reported.

A video, showing the animals reactions which ranged from indifference to aggression, was posted on YouTube.

The video shows different animals having different reactions. A leopard is seen trying to paw at its own reflection, while an elephant seems to be indifferent and calmly walks on.

But a silverback gorilla reacted with aggression, staring at the mirror for a while before charging at it and trying to attack.

According to Mail Online, only a few animals such as humans are able to recognise their own reflection and most animals respond aggressively, but some primates can display human-like recognition.

This is seen in the video when a group of chimpanzees seem intrigued by the mirror, using it to preen themselves and forming a line in front of it.

seanyap@sph.com.sg