In a video uploaded a few years ago, we get to witness a rather intimate moment between a little girl and a small gorilla at a zoo. The clip shows a little girl walking up to the glass divider at a zoo, hoping to catch the attention of a baby gorilla on the other side. Laughing all the while, the girl slaps the glass hoping to tell the baby gorilla that she wants to play. At first, the gorilla doesn’t really respond, until it does! Once it notices that the little girl is trying to play, it slaps the glass back in what clearly looks like a mimic of what the girl had been doing before. Then, placing it’s hands on the glass sill, the baby gorilla makes a face that can only be described as a “kissy face”! Without missing a beat, the little girl runs up to where the gorilla is “kissing” the glass and plants one directly where their lips would meet. Much to the laughter of everyone behind the girl, the “kiss” seemed to form a connection between the gorilla and the girl immediately. Running back and forth, the gorilla slapped the glass and flailed its arms in the air just like a toddler looking to play would do. In the few calm moments between playing with one another, the camera gets a close look at the baby gorilla’s face. In those short moments, we can see just how aware and intelligent this creature is and how much fun it’s having with the little girl through the glass. Aside from humans, few animals are as intelligent as gorillas. Whether it’s sign language or incredible displays of empathy, it is often disarming to see just how “human-like” our distant ancestors can be. In fact, watching a baby gorilla play in a zoo with a smile on its face may be the closest connection to our ancient evolutionary past that humans will ever get! Despite splitting off in different evolutionary directions between 8-19 million years ago, there is a clear connection between them and us. Those moments of connection that we have with animals sometimes happens in our homes with our dogs, or in the wild reaches while camping or exploring, but other times, it happens in the Atlanta Zoo when a little girl decides to give a baby gorilla a kiss through the glass. Kids, whether human or primate, just want to play!
Check out the video below!
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