I wonder if gorillas really do like comparatively open grassy spaces? We do - our ancestors evolved on the savannah. Given the chance, it's the landscape we recreate - look at any park created by Capability Brown ! But gorillas -forest apes, evolved to cope with dense vegetation? I quite honestly don't know, and I wonder what others think.
In most zoos, its evident the Gorillas, particularly the adult males it seems, appear happier with overhead cover and/or indoor access, indicating what appears to be their 'forest canopy' or dense vegetation(?) preferences. In the wild they do venture out into open clearings like 'Bais' or cleared land in order to forage, but afterwards seem to soon drift back into the more densely vegetated forest again. In zoos that preference may be masked by the very open surroundings, where the Gorillas have little choice what they can use. Where they have a free choice between indoor and outdoor areas, they often prefer to be inside a considerable amount of the time, again particularly the males. If shut outdoors, they frequently make use of anything that offers some shelter over their heads, even a wall indicating that this makes them more secure than the open. London's outdoor enclosure has a little 'cave' and I think that is well-used-presumably because of the cover aspect again. So I would say they evolved to live primarily in densely vegetated areas.
