Could a silverback gorilla be friendly to a human? Say it had to be rescued as a baby (no family) by a zookeeper. given the gorilla would have space and social interactions would it be grateful and safe with the zookeeper?

In the wild, people have sat a distance from a troop of gorillas, but still in sight of them. The people stayed quiet and still. After a while, the babies came over to investigate the people. Their mothers followed them and sat nearby to make sure the babies were safe. The silverback tolerated their presence. At one point he came fairly close to the people, but didn’t really engage with them.

In zoos, silverbacks get to know their keepers and have peaceful interactions with them through a gate, but that can change on a dime. A silverback is the guardian of his troop of females and his offspring. If they sense any threat, real or not, things could go badly quickly.

It boils down to the fact that they have the strength of 5 grown men and are protective, wild animals. They should never be approached. If, like the people I mentioned above who sat near a troop and the troop made the choice to approach them, that’s different. However, the people shouldn’t, and didn’t, reach out to touch one of them. That could set off the silverback.

If a silverback was raised and cared for since infancy by someone, I’m sure it would be a lifelong connection. Even so, if they feel they or their troop is threatened, you’re in trouble!