Even though animals obviously can’t talk to us with words, they definitely still know how to communicate with humans. Sometimes, there’s just a very special bond and connection that we can make with animals, and that’s often a bond that is difficult to describe. Some people will go above and beyond to save other animals, even at the risk of their own life.
This man is a perfect example of that, who just couldn’t stand a helpless animal being in danger.
It was supposed to be a fun day trip for the Swope family, as they all went to visit a newly opened chimpanzee exhibit in Detroit, Michigan. Rick, his wife, and their three children all looked forward to this fun trip and were hoping to see these chimps in action, but then something happened that none of them could have possibly expected.
The family arrived at the Chimps of Harambee portion of the exhibit, where you can see these lovely animals naturally interact with each other?
Unfortunately, one of these chimps quickly found himself in a very perilous situation.
It seemed like two of the chimps were fighting with each other on the grass, near a body of water. This fighting ‘match’ wasn’t really fair, as the smaller chimp, Jo-Jo, couldn’t handle the aggression of the larger and more fierce chimp.
Jo-Jo then tried to run away towards the trees to break off the fight, but the larger one wouldn’t have any of that.
As the larger chimp tried to reach him, Jo-Jo suddenly fell into the water that was in the exhibit.
The poor animal seemed completely helpless, and while the crowd expected the animal to recover and get out of the water, that never happened.
The situation started getting worse again, and at this point, everyone knew that this small chimp simply didn’t have the power or the ability to swim back to dry ground.
The crowd just watched the whole thing unfold in awe, and the zoo staff didn’t interfere either. They had no idea how to respond and were just as shocked as the audience.
As for Rick, however, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
Right away, the man went to the border of the exhibit, where he was stopped by the shelter staff. They warned him that it was unwise because these apes can be very aggressive sometimes, as they’ve all just witnessed.
However, the man knew the risks and decided to jump into the enclosure anyway. Someone needed to save Jo-Jo, because the situation was critical.
The man immediately swam towards the small chimp and grabbed him out of the water.
Even though the footage quality isn’t crisp, you can tell how Jo-Jo is absolutely terrified and is basically limp in the man’s arms.
When they finally reached the edge of the water, the man simply pushed Jo-Jo as far as possible out of it. The chimp struggled for a bit, but Rick then pushed him to safety again.
“When I finally got him up the bank and I could hold him up there, he wasn’t moving,” the man said in an interview with Animal Planet. “He was lifeless, but he was looking at me when I got him turned around, so I knew he was alive.”
While the shelter staff stood by and did nothing, this man saved Jo-Jo at the risk of his own life. What an absolutely heartwarming and selfless act!
You can check out some footage of the amazing rescue in the video below.
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