Gorilla carries boy to safety in 1996 zoo incident

Days after a Cincinnati Zoo gorilla was killed after a child fell into its pen, video of a similar incident with a much different outcome is making its round on social media.

In August of 1996, a three-year-old boy snuck away from his mother, climbed through a barrier, and fell nearly 20-feet into a gorilla enclosure at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.

Grainy video of the incident shows an 8-year-old female gorilla, named Binti Jua, pick up the boy’s limp body and cradle him before taking him to a door where rescuers were able to grab him.

Binti Jua carried her 17-month-old baby on her back throughout the entire incident, which led many to believe her maternal instinct may have played a factor in her treatment of the child, WGN-TV reported. 

When the child fell, there were six other gorillas in the exhibit, ABC reported. The boy, who was never identified, suffered a broken hand and scratches, WGN-TV reported.

Following the 1996 incident, Binti Jua was hailed a hero. On social media, many compared the 1996 case, to the incident involving a male gorilla, named Harambe, at the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday.

The zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response Team shot and killed Harambe, a silverback gorilla, after a young boy fell into a shallow moat surrounding his exhibit on Saturday.The 17-year-old, 450-pound western lowland gorilla, grabbed the boy and pulled him through the water, keeping the child close as onlookers screamed. The boy was treated at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and later released, and his family says he is doing fine.

In an earlier statement, Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard attempted to justify the zoo's actions. "It could have been very bad," he said.

Contributing: Chuck Campbell, The Knoxville News Sentinel 

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