News Animals

Zoo gorillas use a weird new call that sounds like a sneezy cough

The vocalization may help the apes attract human attention

Sukari sits pensively by a rock in a zoo enclosure

Sukari, a western lowland gorilla at Zoo Atlanta, can make a variety of calls, including one that may help her snare a zookeeper’s attention.

Zoo Atlanta (CC-BY 4.0)

By Meghan Rosen

Sukari the gorilla can grunt. She can hum. She can grumble. Now, scientists report, the gorilla’s got a new way to express herself. Sukari can “snough.”

She and other zoo gorillas make the noise, a cross between a sneeze and a cough, when zookeepers with food are near.