Surprisingly, gorillas were not discovered by a geographer or an explorer but by somebody whose intentions were totally different. But the beauty of these animals alone was enough to have him wondering what they really were or where they came from.
During the 6th Century B.C. Admiral Hanno of Carthage (present day Tunisia) together with a team of skillful sailors in sailed along the coast of West Africa in sixty (60) ships. As they patrolled the waters, they often docked at the ports along the West African coast for a night after which they would continue with their voyage.
One day as they rested on land, they came across a huge humanlike species which was covered in thick dark hair. They were eager to find out what the locals in the area called these species and on inquiring, they were told that it was a “tribe of hairy women”; a phrase that translates as “gorilla” in Greek. Admiral Hanno and his men were so anxious to share their discovery with friends and families after the voyage.
Since then, the name gorilla began to be used every time reference was being made to these “hairy humans” by authors like and environmental researchers like Thomas S. Savage. Apparently, several scientists believe that Admiral Hanno and his subordinates might have encountered another group of humans and not necessarily gorillas but if they were gorillas then they must have been the lowland mountain gorillas of west Africa because their larger brothers the mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei subspecies) are only found in the forested highlands of central and Eastern African.