I'm ready for my close-ape! Incredible moment huge silverback gorilla emerges from the undergrowth inches from stunned tourists and then poses for pictures during Rwanda safari

Video shows silverback gorilla striding towards group of tourists in Rwanda 

This is the incredible moment a huge silverback gorilla emerged from the undergrowth inches away from stunned tourists before posing for pictures during a safari in Rwanda.

Video shows a group of seven tourists sitting down next to park rangers in the Volcanoes National Park, northwest Rwanda, when suddenly the large male ape strides towards them.

One tourist can be seen quickly moving out of the gorilla’s path, missing him by mere inches, before the silverback moves up the hill and into the deep undergrowth while making deep rumbling noises – a sign of contentment.

The astonished tourists, overcome with what they had just witnessed, squealed with excitement while one can be heard saying: ‘Oh my god.’

Another clip shows the silverback mountain gorilla, named Lisanga, moving back towards the tourists and sitting down in front of them before posing for pictures.

Video shows a group of seven tourists sitting down next to park rangers in the Volcanoes National Park, northwest Rwanda, when suddenly the large male ape strides towards them

Another clip shows the silverback mountain gorilla, named Lisanga, moving back towards the tourists and sitting down in front of them before posing for pictures

A guide can be heard laughing in the background as the huge animal appears to be striking poses for the cameras.

The footage was captured by Cameron Scott, who runs the Royal Ngala Safaris travel company, in the Volcanoes National Park.

‘Lifechanging Silverback encounter,’ Cameron said. ‘A moment my guests will never forget. A large Silverback Mountain gorilla emerges mere feet away from my clients and proceeds to flaunt his majestic beauty off in a powerful yet graceful manner.’

‘These moments out in the wild are what it is all about and we can not be more grateful towards all the park rangers , trackers and conservationists behind the scenes that make all of this possible,’ Cameron added.

After posing for photographs in front of the tourists, the silverback can be seen marching past them – straight towards where Cameron was standing.

The quick-thinking guide pushed himself backwards into the thick bushes, successfully creating enough space for the gorilla to move past him and into the undergrowth.

‘When a massive Silverback decides to move, you get out of the way fast. In this particular circumstance I had my back to thick bushes and had nowhere else to go. It was a close encounter for sure,’ Cameron said.

Volcanoes National Park covers 160 square kilometres of rainforest and is home to the highest number of mountain gorillas in the wider Virunga Conservation area.

The national park was formed to protect mountain gorillas, which were facing the threat of extinction as a result of poaching and war.

Within Volcanoes National Park, tour groups are limited to eight people at a time, with only an hour spent observing gorillas.

Tourists are not allowed can’t carry food or even water bottles near the animals, lest a curious silverback snatch them and perhaps be exposed to your germs.

And tourists are told not to hold eye contact for too long. And if a gorilla acts aggressive — which is rare — look down, bend your knee and show you acknowledge its authority.

This is why in the video captured by Cameron, some of the tourists can be seen averting their gaze after a while and looking down.

Another clip shows the silverback mountain gorilla, named Lisanga, moving back towards the tourists and sitting down in front of them before posing for pictures

Volcanoes National Park covers 160 square kilometres of rainforest and is home to the highest number of mountain gorillas in the wider Virunga Conservation area

American primatologist Dian Fossey had predicted that the species would go extinct by 2000 before she died in 1985. Before her death, she created the world’s longest-running study of gorillas inside the Volcanoes National Park.

And thanks to a concerted and sustained conservation campaign, experts have  averted the worst and given a second chance to these great apes, which share about 98% of human DNA.

In 2018, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature changed the status of mountain gorillas from ‘critically endangered’ to ‘endangered,’ an improved if still-fragile designation, reflecting new survey data.

It wouldn’t have happened without an intervention some biologists call ‘extreme conservation,’ which has entailed monitoring every single gorilla in the rainforest, periodically giving them veterinary care — to clean infected wounds, for instance — and funding forest protection by sending money into communities that might otherwise resent not being able to convert the woods into cropland.

Instead of disappearing, the number of mountain gorillas — a subspecies of eastern gorillas — has risen from 680 a decade ago to just over 1,000.

.Their population is split between two regions, including mist-covered defunct volcanoes within Congo, Uganda and Rwanda — one of Africa’s smallest and most densely populated countries.

“The population of mountain gorillas is still vulnerable,” George Schaller, a renowned biologist and gorilla expert, said. “But their numbers are now growing, and that’s remarkable.”

Once depicted in legends and films like “King Kong” as fearsome beasts, gorillas are actually languid primates that eat only plants and insects, and live in fairly stable, extended family groups. Their strength and chest-thumping displays are generally reserved for contests between male rivals.