Andy Rouse's Image

This is the moment that Akarevuro, a young male mountain gorilla, charged at Andy and his companions in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.

It had taken a couple of hours' trekking to reach the gorilla band, which is led by Akarevuro's father, Kwitonda. 'The group was very chilled', recalls Andy. 'Kwitonda ate peacefully, and Akarevuro was hanging out with some females in a clearing.' With hormones raging, Akarevuro suddenly rushed towards the group of humans. 'Dense vegetation prevented us from moving back,' says Andy. 'Akarevuro stopped a few metres away from us, squatted on all fours and remained like that for several minutes to make his point.' Andy sat still, avoided eye contact and waited for the moment to pass. 'Akarevuro was simply out to impress one of the receptive females,' concludes Andy. 'And it worked - a little later, we saw him mating.'