A 37-year-old male gorilla, who is a resident at the Paignton Zoo in Devon, United Kingdom, was caught on cam playing rugby inside his enclosure.

It looks like the male gorilla was trying to show off his rugby skills before the Rugby World Cup 2019 starts.

The video shows the gorilla looking at the rugby ball and throwing it around inside his enclosure at the zoo.

Pertinax, the 37-year-old Gorilla, weighs over 190 kilograms and is 6 feet tall.

The rugby balls at the Paignton zoo were donated by Lovell Rugby, who turns out to be the world’s largest rugby store in the online world.

The Zoo said that the male gorilla showed the world his ball-carrying capabilities.

Alex Perry, a senior zookeeper at the Paignton Zoo in Devon, United Kingdom, said, “This is an excellent form of environmental enrichment – the balls are novel items and stimulate the gorillas to play. We smeared a little honey on the ball, too, as an incentive.”

Western lowland gorilla, Pertinax, has been testing out his rugby skills ahead of the #RugbyWorldCup! 🦍🏉
The rugby balls are a great form of environmental enrichment, being novel items that provoke curiosity and stimulate play. #RWC2019 https://t.co/BmsxPjk9Y6 pic.twitter.com/VurkjGCIzq

— Paignton Zoo (@PaigntonZoo) September 16, 2019

He added, “It’s great to have a locally-based company like Lovell help us out by donating balls.”

It’s amazing how smart gorillas are!

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