Gorillas have been fascinating to humans ever since they were first discovered, due to their human-like qualities and clear displays of emotions. It’s clear that gorillas are some of the most empathetic animals out there, and despite being big and strong, they have proved many times just what gentle giants they are.
So when a gorilla at a zoo in New South Wales, Australia, came across an injured bird, it’s no surprise that the gentle creature decided not to hurt it.
In fact, the opposite happened, as the gorilla calmly picked up the bird and stroked its wings as if he was encouraging it to fly.
The sweet moment was shared onto YouTube by ViralHog, and now has over 329,000 views from people all over the world. The videographer said of the scene in the YouTube description: “When the bird didn’t fly away, the gorilla walked away without ever harming it. It was amazing such a big animal could be so gentle.”
The clip begins as the gorilla walks through his enclosure towards the injured bird. The bird is lying on the ground and at first appears to be dead, but as the gorilla picks it up, we can see that it’s sill alive- just a little stunned.
The gorilla gently touches the bird several times, as one observer says, “it looks like he’s trying to get it to go.”
The gorilla continues to gently prod and stroke the bird. He seems to be confused as to why the bird isn’t flying, as he usually sees them spreading their wings around his enclosure. He’s determined to get it to fly again, but he’s not sure how to do that.
The gorilla is huge in comparison in the bird, and we can’t blame the audience for worrying about the bird’s fate. “This may not end pretty, if there’s any children around,” a woman half-jokes.
But the gorilla continues to prove everyone wrong, and when the bird still refuses to fly, he eventually gets bored of his little mission, and decides to walk away.
“How awesome was that?” a woman says in the clip.
It turns out that despite their size and strength, gorillas are some of the most calm, gentle animals.
“From the preliminary information we have, gorillas are remarkable, peaceful creatures,” said Shawn Lehman, who’s on the board of directors at the Jane Goodall Institute, and a professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto. “They are, by all accounts, remarkably sedate animals given their size, their power, and the size of their teeth.”
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that this gorilla reacted calmly when faced with the baby bird. Though we can’t help wondering what happened when the clip ended. Did the bird eventually fly away, or was it rescued by one of the zoo’s workers? We need answers!
Have you ever seen a gorilla being as gentle as this one? Let us know in the comments, and make sure you watch the video below to see this gentle giant in action.
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