In 1996, an unidentified 3-year-old boy escaped from his mother, climbed over a fence and fell into the gorilla enclosure.
The boy broke his arm and suffered deep lacerations to his face from the 20-foot fall. Seven gorillas live in the enclosure. Gorillas are known to be fiercely territorial animals.
They would fight to the death to defend their family. However, one of the gorillas, called Binti Jua, which means "sun girl," approached the boy and hugged him, while her own child was on her back.
She then went to the edge of the enclosure and waited for the zookeeper to come and pick up the child. Binti handed the child back peacefully before returning to the other gorillas. Binti received worldwide praise and received regular treats over the next few weeks.
The boy and his mother were never identified, but the boy remained in the hospital for 4 days.
Animal behavior experts say Binti used her maternal instincts to care for the cub. This may have been influenced by the fact that she had her own baby gorilla with her at the time..
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