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Binti Jua

by Kate from Eden Prairie

This is Koola and Binti. (Google Images)
This is Koola and Binti. (Google Images)

It happened August 16, 1996. Binti Jua, whose name means Daughter of Sunshine in Swahili, was a Western Lowland Gorilla. She lived at Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois. She was a miraculous gorilla. Right now, I'm going to tell you a miraculous story.

Binti was age 8 when she noticed a three-year-old boy climbing a wall near her enclosure. Suddenly, the little boy fell, hitting his head on the concrete ground. She climbed out of her cage.

She ran over to the little boy. She began to comfort him, like she would with her own child. She picked him up. Binti looked over to the helpless witnesses, screaming with the thought that the gorilla would hurt him. But she did not.

She brought him over to the zookeepers, for they could send him to the hospital. People might think that the zookeepers and the nurses saved the boy, but I believe not. Binti Jua saved the boy, comforting the injured boy. She was smart enough to give the boy to the zookeepers! But more importantly, she did it with her baby, Koola, on her back. Binti basically saved the boy's life.

See? Wasn't that just an amazing story. A GORILLA saved a boy from injury. She did it with people and animals watching, and her baby on her back. I think that this was just an amazing story, and I wanted to share it with you. Always remember Binti, and try to be like her. Smart for your actions, and being kind. Gorillas ROCK!

Page created on 5/21/2010 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 5/21/2010 12:00:00 AM

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