Brookfield Zoo: Video Resurfaces Of Gorilla Saving Boy Who Fell Into Habitat — Watch

The Cincinnati Zoo incident wasn’t the first time a child fell into a gorilla enclosure…but things were a LOT different when it happened at Brookfield Zoo in 1996. A video has resurfaced of Western Lowland gorilla, Binti Jua, actually saving the little boy who tumbled into her habitat – watch here.

Following the controversial shooting of Harambe at the Cincinnati Zoo, a clip from a similar 1996 incident has resurfaced. In that case, though, the gorilla rescued and nurtured the three-year-old who fell into her enclosure, giving animal lovers a new case against killing Harambe.

Binti Jua was eight years old when the boy fell 18 feet into the gorilla exhibit, suffering injuries like a broken hand and cut to the face. People looking on were in absolute horror as the giant animal made her way toward the boy, who was unconscious, but what happened next changed everything.

Instead of attacking the poor child, Binti picked him up and laid him down safely until a human could come to the rescue. It’s, of course, much different than what happened at the Cincinnati Zoo, when Harambe dragged the boy across the enclosure.

However, during the May 28 incident, Harambe was also seen gently holding hands with the boy, and many critics are outraged that officials decided to shoot and kill, rather than just tranquilize, the endangered animal when he didn’t appear to be acting majorly out of control.

But the director of the zoo has explained tranquilization would have been incredibly dangerous because it would’ve taken several minutes to go into effect. “[The gorilla] was acting erratically, he was disoriented,” he explained. “It’s due to his strength, that’s where the danger was.”

Obviously, the situation with Binti Jua is in no way proof that things would’ve gone just as smoothly this time around — she’s a female, Western Lowland gorilla, while he was a male Silverback, for one thing. But, still, it’s touching to see how humanlike and gentle the giant creature can be!

Hey, all do you think Harambe was a threat to the boy who fell into his enclosure? Should he have been shot?



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