The last thing you would expect to see walking through the jungle is a mirror. French photographer Xavier Hubert Brierre had the brilliant idea of putting mirrors in various locations in an African jungle so he could capture the reactions of the animals when they saw themselves on film. If you think you would be shocked to see a mirror in the jungle then just think about how the animals felt! Their reactions were one in a million. I can only imagine their confusion and frustration. Well guess what. It shows.
This is the photographer, Xavier Hubert Brierre. He carefully placed a sturdy mirror in the jungle and waited for the animals. He had no idea what he was in for.
This gorilla wasted no time. He was going to get to the bottom of things fast!
The elephant really wasn’t all too impressed with what he saw.
I think this guy gave himself a bit of a scare.
I do this in the mirror sometimes too.
This kind of reminds me of the girls all getting ready to go out for the night.
The leopard apparently pawed at himself in the mirror thinking it was a rival leopard.
The chimp greets his reflection with massive aggression and violent thrashing at the image of himself in the mirror.
It’s not at all surprising that they think it’s another animal. Babies think they see another baby when they first look into a mirror as well.
Despite the long days and attacks by various insects found in the African undergrowth, Xavier says the experience was a thoroughly enjoyable one.
Check out the entire video below:
Xavier said, “I had to wash the mirrors on which leopards and monkeys left greasy streaks, traces of blood and feces left by insects hitting their surface ignoring their reflective property. Myself and my wife spent many long days at the site, often being attacked by different types of flies and bees.” If you are wondering how he caught all his footage, Xavier hid cameras in security boxes and set up motion sensors that would trigger the cameras whenever some wildlife walked close to the mirrors. It sure produced some awesome footage and I think these animals will be forever curious about their experience with the mirrors in the jungle.