If “The Lion King” taught us anything, it’s that in the animal kingdom, not all creatures are on equal footing.
But in spite of that, all different kinds of animals came together in the movie and formed friendships that you just don’t see in real life… or you don’t normally, anyway.
In a zoo in New South Wales, Australia, an unlikely friendship developed between a gorilla and an injured bird.
Gorillas are known for being friendly, intelligent and gentle animals, despite their muscular, strong physique.
A man called Dian Fossey even lived with a bunch of mountain gorillas and said that he felt “more conformable being with gorillas than being around people”. We’re not sure we’d go that far, but it’s interesting to hear all the same!
Let’s put it this way: if you fell into any zoo enclosure, a gorilla pen would likely put you at a low risk of harm.
Gorillas aren’t only friendly with humans, either. In this case, the gorilla in question spotted an injured bird in his enclosure and knew he needed to come to the rescue.
As onlookers realize what is happening, the gorilla heads over to the bird and peers down at him, checking him out.
He’s probably never hung out with an injured bird before, but the big guy’s natural caring instincts must kick in.
He touches the bird’s wings which makes them flap – but the little bird must be unable to fly.
We can only imagine what must be going through the winged creature’s head at that moment, with a huge gorilla blocking out his sunlight – he thinks he’s a goner, for sure!
But the gorilla only wants to help.
He starts softly nudging his little friend beneath his feet, knowing that something isn’t right. He’s probably used to birds flying away from him, but this little guy can’t move.
Despite having a huge hand that could flatter the bird in an instant, the gorilla acts the gentle giant, being careful not to injure his friend further.
By this point, the onlookers filming the encounter have given in on the bird’s recovery.
One of them says,
“This might not end pretty, if there’s any children around.”
But eventually, the gorilla must see that there’s no hope for the injured bird – or maybe he just gets bored – because he backs off and walks back over to the other side of the enclosure.
The women can be heard theorizing whether the bird might have been “playing stunned” to avoid provoking the gorilla.
Speaking to the Lad Bible, the witness who filmed the touching moment said:
”It was amazing such a big animal could be so gentle. It walked over to the bird and tried very gently to get the bird to fly away. When the bird didn’t fly away, the gorilla walked away without ever harming it.”
This story is certainly proof that gorillas are more human than animal – but that doesn’t mean you should go looking for one as a pet.
Gorillas have been known to attack humans, so it’s probably not worth the risk of befriending one!
If you haven’t yet seen this heartwarming video of a caring gorilla, it’s a must-watch. Just scroll down and click “play” to watch it now.
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