It's Not Like They Spotted Nessie

Check.  This.  Out.  The world's rarest gorillas--the cross river gorillas of Cameroon--have been caught on videotape:

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/05/08/Worlds-rarest-gorillas-caught-on-camera/UPI-57271336510037/

Just how rare are cross river gorillas?  Well, I for one had never heard of them.  As a native New Yorker, I would have assumed a "cross river gorilla" was a thug from Fort Lee.  Shows you how much I know.

Still, I find the whole thing a bit underwhelming.  I mean, these may be the gorilla equivalent of Sasquatch, but when I see the video, I think, "Well. .  .OK, then.  Gorillas."

'Cause let's face it, superficially at least, these guys don't look particularly different from your basic, everyday, run-of-the-mill gorilla you might run into at Safeway.  It's not like they're purple, or talk, or can make me an omelet.

Can they make me an omelet?

Actually, now that I've thought about it, I guess Sasquatch is the gorilla equivalent of Sasquatch.

You could point a camera at any gorilla and tell me it's rare and, y'know, I'll just have to take your word for it.

Reminds me of the fuss over the ivory-billed woodpecker, long-considered extinct, then recently spotted, but subsequently--upon the occasion of its never being definitively spotted again--declared extinct once more.

Lost in all the hoopla is perhaps the most salient point about the elusive woodpecker: namely, that--extinct or extant, rare or routine--the bottom line is, it's a freaking woodpecker!

So by all means, enjoy the march of the cross river gorillas, but don't affect awe and admiration when gazing upon these "mysterious" creatures.  You wouldn't know a cross river from another kind of gorilla if it were gnawing your face off.

Which I'm sure such a rare and noble creature would never do.