Binti Jua

Binti Jua and her baby Koola

Binti Jua is a Gorilla which is now living in the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Illinois. When she was born in the year, 1988, Binti Jua lived at the Columbus Zoo, which now has one of the most successful gorilla breeding programs in the country. Her father, Sunshine, was from the San Francisco Zoo, originally named the Fleishhacker Zoo. Her mother, Lulu, was from the Bronx Zoo, which is located in New York.

Binti Jua and the little boy she saved

Binti Jua, who was then an eight year old gorilla, saved a three year old boy. So the story goes that the young boy was climbing a railing at the zoo on August 16, 1996, when he slipped and fell eighteen feet down into the exhibit, onto hard concrete. The zoo officials were notified right away but Binti Jua got there first. He carried the unconscious little boy to an area where the zoo officials could tend to him.

As Binti Jua was carrying the boy to the zoo Officials she was also carrying her 17 month baby on her back, Koola. While also cradling the little boy protectively from the other curious gorillas trying to see him, she took care of both the little boy and her baby until the paramedics could come to take him away. He had a concussion and fully recovered.